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JJ^in (§n\m (Eulturf 

yf Complete Guide 
In Growing Onions for Profit 



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By T. GREINER 

Rewritten and Greatly Enlarged 



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New York 
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 

1903 



THE LIBRARY ©F J 
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Received 


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15 


1903 


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Entry 

XXe. No. 


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Copyright 1903 
By Orange Judd Company 



• • • • • • 

• • ••• 






THE STORY of 




The 

New Onion 

Culture 



CONTENTS 



Preface 

The Why and Wherefores, a sort of introduction. 

A fable— Ihe cat's trick— History of the new 

onion culture— Blessings of an own honie— 

Large scale operations— Horticultural training 

for your boy. 

CHAPTER I 

Well Begun, Half Done. How the plants are grown i 

Procuring seed— Growing seed— Plants in 
boxes— Hotbeds— Sowing the seed— Fire hot- 
beds—Hotbeds heated by waste steam— Cheap 
greenhouses— Plants for sale— Damping off- 
Soils for flats, frames and benches— Trimming 
the plants while growing. 

CHAPTER n 

As You Make Your Bed, so you will lie . . U 

What soil to select— How to manure and 
prepare it— The best soil— Onions on muck- 
Sandy loam— Clean soil essential— Manuring 
the land— An onion and strawberry combina- 
tion — Preparing the soil. 

CHAPTER HI 
A Difficulty Easily Overcome. Hozv the plants 

are set in open ground . . • • • ^i 

The real work— One advantage of trans- ■ 
planting— Width of planting— Marking the land 
—Trimming the plants before setting— Setting 
plants — Planting machines. 

CHAPTER IV 
Perseverance That Pays. Tillage as moisture pre- 
server and zveed killer . ■ • ■ • 3^ 

Objects of cultivation— Tools of tillage- 
Hand weeding— Mulching— Irrigation. 



Vlll CONTENTS 

CHAPTER V 

A Timely Pull and Haul. When and how to har- 
vest the crop 38 

Danger in delay — Signs of maturity — Curing 
the crop — Curing sheds — An onion storage 
house. 

CHAPTER VI 

The Fragrant Bulb on Sale 44 

The Prizetaker a Pricetaker — ^An inventory 
— Crating onions — The crates — Wintering 
onions. 

CHAPTER VH 

All's Well That Ends Well .... 51 

Advantages and profits of the new way — Five 
advantages of the new method — Estimate of 
cost and profits. 

CHAPTER VHI 

The Old Onion Culture 55 

Sowing seed in the open ground — DrilHng 
in the seed — After cuhure — Buying seed — 
Onions for pickhng — Growing sets. 

CHAPTER IX 
Soils and Manures for Onions .... 70 

CHAPTER X 
Onion Varieties . . 75 

CHAPTER XI 
Insects and Diseases Affecting the Onion Crop 87 

CHAPTER XII 

Onion Growing in the South 105 

Bibliography 108 

Conclusion 112 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FIG PAGE 

Frontispiece — The Author 

2. The Story of the New Onion Culture ... v 

3. Yellow Prizetaker Onion 2 

4. Plants Ready for Transplanting .... 3 

5. Hotbed in Sunken Pit 4 

6. Hotbed on Level Ground 5 

7. Forcing Pit Covered with Hotbed Sash . . 7 

8. Small Greenhouse — Elevation .... 8 

9. Small Greenhouse — Cross Section .... 9 

10. A Well-Prepared Seed Bed . . . . . n 

11. A Perfect Crop of Gibraltar Onions ... 14 

12. Row of Scallions I5 

13. Onions in the New Strawberry Bed ... 16 

14. Disk Harrow I7 

15. Acme Harrow 18 

16. Meeker Smoothing Harrow IQ 

17. Old Style Garden Marker 22 

18. Single Tooth Attachment 23 

19. Three-Tooth Marker . . , . . . . 23 

20. Tracing Wheel Marker 24 

21. Setting the Plants with Dibber .... 25 

22. Old Kitchen Knife as Dibber 26 

23. Dibber 26 

24. Trimming the Plants 27 

25. Wrong Way 28 

26. Right Way 28 

27. Plant Set Right Depth 29 

28. Plant Set Too Deep 30 

29. Iron Age Hand Wheel Hoe 33 

30. Wheel Hoe in Operation in the Onion Field . . 34 

31. Single Wheel Hoe . 35 

32. Lang's Hand Weeder 35 

33. Homemade Onion Hoe 3o 

34. Onion Curing Shed 39 

35. An Onion Curing Crib • 40 

36. Michigan Onion Storage House .... 42 

37. Bunch of Prizetaker Onions 45 

ix 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



38. Prizetaker Onions Crated for Market 

39. Iron Age Garden Drill in Operation 

40. Comparative Size of Round Onions 

41. Comparative Size of Flat Onions 

42. Homemade Pickling Onion Sieve 

43. Assorted Barletta Onions 

44. Egyptian or Perennial Tree Onion 

45. Onion Field in Bloom 

46. Onion Seed Ready for Harvesting 

47. Potato Onion or Multiplier 

48. Large Red Wethersfield 

49. White Tripoli Onion 

50. Beaulieu's Hardy White Onion 

51. The Onion Maggot . 

52. Plant Attacked by Thrips 



47 
56 
59 
60 
62 
6z 
65 
66 
67 
76 
78 
83 
84 
88 
90 



PREFACE 



In bringing this revised and enlarged treatise on 
the new way of growing onions by the method which 
has become famous under the name ''new onion cul- 
ture" before the public, the author makes no pretense 
of believing that there is a lack of literature on the 
subject of onion culture in America. On the contrary, 
he willingly and freely concedes that all phases of the 
culture of this vegetable have found a most liberal 
consideration at the hands of the writers of books, 
pamphlets, bulletins and agricultural newspaper arti- 
cles. The author himself has been guilty of addmg 
largely to the mass of printed matter on onions. All 
this, however, together with the large sales which most 
of the more popular treatises on onion growing have 
met with right along, only proves the great importance 
of the subject. 

The first edition of The New Onion Culture was 
issued in the spring of 1891, and had to be followed 
by new editions in rapid succession to meet the unex- 
pected demand; yet this demand still continues. No 
further excuse will therefore be offered for this attempt 
to take the subject in hand once more, and to bring the 
"new onion culture" into renewed and thoroughly 
up-to-date form. 

Many hundreds of experiment station and de- 
partment bulletins and reports on the onion have been 
issued, a list of which will be given later on. A veg- 



XU PREFACE 

etable that has commanded so much and so long 
continued intense attention, cannot be without great 
merit, nor without unusual promise as a profitable 
crop. True, the onion has often been looked upon as 
the pariah among vegetables. Yet the great majority 
of people are inordinately fond of onion flavor, even 
if some try to hide their liking for it as if they were 
ashamed of it. As a money crop, too, the despised 
onion occupies a front rank. Its annual production 
in the United States runs high up into the millions of 
bushels. The importations, especially of the large 
sweet or Spanish type of onions during spring and 
early summer, also represent a large figure, reaching 
sometimes close to the million-bushel mark for the year. 

My own earlier interest in onion growing was 
revived by the introduction, in 1889. of the Prizetaker 
onion, a variety of that large and very mild Spanish 
type which we now import in still considerable quan- 
tities from al:)road. The bulbs, in my (then) New 
Jersey sandy loam grew so beautiful and perfect, and 
of such large size (although grown by the old method, 
from seed sown in open ground in spring), that I 
became really enthusiastic about the possibilities hidden 
in the crop. In my further experiments with this 
novelty, I stumbled, in 1890, upon the method now 
generally known as ''the new onion culture." 

The new plan may now be safely said to have 
passed the experimental stage. It has stood the ordeal 
of a dozen years of trial, and sometimes of hostile 
criticism or prejudice. But it has slowly made its 
way into favor with those growers who understand its 
scope and purport, and has made money for them. 
Already in 1893 I quoted from a letter then just 
received from Mr A. I. Root of Medina, Ohio, the 
publisher of Gleanings in Bee Culture, and himself 
known as an enthusiastic gardener, as follows, viz: — 



PREFACE XIU 

"In regard to new points in vegetable gardening 
during the past season, I believe what has been called 
'the new onion culture' has made the most stir. At 
one of the farmers' institutes, I gave them a talk on 
the matter and exhibited some samples of large, fine 
Spanish onions. After I got through I felt a little 
afraid my talk had been pretty extravagant, and some 
of my hearers, I was told, criticised me a good deal. 
They said, 'Oh, yes, Root can talk, especially when 
he buys manure from the livery stables, and puts on 
more of it to the acre than an acre of our ground is 
worth ; but what good does such talk do us ?' 

"You may perhaps surmise there were some among 
my hearers of the class that claim 'farming don't pay.' 
Well, a few days ago, a man I had seen a few times, 
came into the office and said he had something down 
stairs for me to look at. On the way down he asked 
if I remembered my talk in the winter. Then he said 
he had bought some seed, and had been at work trying 
the new onion culture. I felt afraid he had failed, 
and was going to blame me for my enthusiastic state- 
ments of what might be done on a single acre. By 
this time we reached the place where he had left his 
basket of onions. They were just beauties, and you 
ought to have seen his face while he held them up and 
told me how he did it. He hadn't any greenhouse nor 
hotbed, so he raised the plants in boxes in the kitchen 
window, and planted them out in ordinary clay soil 
such as farmers use for corn and potatoes. I asked 
him if he had found a market for them, and he replied : 
" 'Why, bless your heart, Mr Root, there isn't any 
trouble at all about the market. My neighbors right 
around me will take every last onion at one dollar per 
bushel, and I just wanted to see you, and tell that you 
wasn't extravagant a bit in telling what a farmer might 
do if he had only the will to do it.' 



XIV PREFACE 

''Another man in the same neighborhood raised a 
wagon load in the same way, and brought them to 
Medina, and sold them at once for eighty cents per 
bushel at a time when ordinary onions were bringing 
thirty cents per bushel." 

I might tell a good many instances of a similar 
kind from my experiences during the past few years. 
It is generally found, that if the trial is made properly, 
and under circumstances not exactly unfavorable, the 
result will be such as to make anyone with a natural 
instinct for gardening, just as much of an enthusiast 
as the man in Mr Root's story. 

After a full baker's dozen years of experience in 
growing onions by the new system, I am still in doubt 
whether to recommend it for general purposes of onion 
growing or not. Theoretically I see no objection to 
the substitution of the* new for the old way even for 
the production of the crop of ordinary onion varieties 
for fall and winter use. The fact is to-day recognized 
by all authorities, and stands without dispute, that 
every one of our common onion sorts gives much 
larger individual bulbs when the seedlings are started 
early under glass than when seed is sown in open 
ground in spring, as is the practice of the old style. 
The crop is easily twice, possibly three and more times 
as large. 

Farmers' Bulletin 39, issued by the United States 
department of agriculture in 1896, says: "Experi- 
ments have demonstrated that the transplanting system 
has many advantages, the most important of which is, 
perhaps, the increase in yield. This increase is due to 
several causes. The plants receive a good start under 
glass before they are set in the field, and thus have the 
full advantage of the cool spring weather, which is 
most favorable to rapid growth; when sown in the 
field, a month or more is consumed before the plants 



PREFACE XV 

are fairly started. This is a very important consider- 
ation in the South, where the hot, dry weather may 
arrive very soon. Transplanting, if properly per- 
formed, always secures a full stand, which is uncertain 
where the seed is sown in open ground. Pulling the 
plants results in more or less root pruning, and this 
doubtless exerts some beneficial influence on the yield. 
''Experiments at many agricultural experiment 
stations show how material is the increased yield. At 
• the Ohio station ten selected transplanted Prizetaker 
bulbs weighed eight pounds and four ounces ; the same 
number of bulbs, not transplanted, four pounds and 
four ounces ; Pompeii, transplanted, seven pounds and 
. six ounces ; not transplanted, four pounds and one 
ounce ; White Victoria, transplanted, eight pounds and 
six ounces ; not transplanted, three pounds and seven 
ounces ; Yellow Danvers, transplanted, five pounds ; not 
transplanted, two pounds and six ounces. Trans- 
planting gave a decided increase with each of the 
fourteen varieties tried, amounting to one hundred per 
cent in some cases. 

"At the Michigan station transplanted Prizetaker 
onions gave a yield of 548 bushels per acre, while 
bulbs not transplanted yielded only 216 bushels; 
Southport, transplanted, 296 bushels per acre; not 
transplanted, 172 ; Giant Rocca, transplanted, 556 bush- 
f els; not transplanted, no. Experiments at the Rhode 
Island station gave a decided increase with Yellow 
Danvers, Red Wethersfield and White Portugal. Red 
Wethersfield onions transplanted at the Tennessee 
station yielded 823 bushels per acre, while those not 
transplanted produced at the rate of 206 bushels. 
North Dakota station reports experiments with several 
varieties, including Yellow Danvers, in which trans- 
planted onions gave an increase from four to five times 



XVI PREFACE 

as great as those not transplanted. This enormous 
increase in North Dakota is due to the abundance of 
rain during the early spring." 

In practice, the large growers of fall and winter 
onions in the great onion growing sections of the New 
England states, New York, Ohio, Michigan, etc, have 
been reluctant to make the change in their methods. 
For myself, I will confess, that if I had an ideal onion 
soil, and were growing standard varieties for fall and 
winter market, the Yellow Danvers, Yellow or White 
Globes, etc, I am not even now prepared to say that I 
would not grow them by the old plan, and I am dis- 
posed to leave the choice between the old and the new 
to each individual grower according to his particular 
circumstances and surroundings, and possibly personal 
notions and preferences. 

My own soil is not particularly suited to the ordi- 
nary onion crop. Try as I may, I am unable to grow 
a respectable crop of Yellow Danvers or Southport 
Globes, the leading varieties of that class, in the old 
way. The yield, 200 or 250 bushels per acre, is below 
the profit limit. For this reason I had to devise or 
adapt a system of my own tO' make onion growing 
profitable. I found it in the new onion culture. 

Its chief purpose is to enable me to grow very 
large specimens, and a very large yield, of the very 
mild onions of the sweet Spanish type. Americans 
may not think much of the Spaniards, as a nation ; but 
they like the mild flavor of their onions. Hundreds of 
thousands of bushels of onions are annually imported 
into the United States from Bermuda (the old crop 
during January), from Cuba (new crop during Febru- 
ary), from France and Spain (during February, 
March, and up to midsummer). Various portions of 
our country have the right climate and soil to raise 



PREFACE XVli 

just as good onions as any coming from foreign 
countries. 

The retail customers of our grocery stores are 
asked to pay five, six or seven cents a pound for the 
imported "Spanish" onion. During summer, fall and 
part or all of the winter, the home-grown ''Spanish," 
Gibraltar and Prizetaker, onions can be sold by grocers 
at a profit at three cents a pound, and allow one dollar 
a bushel for the grower. I can see no sense, on the 
part of the retail buyer, in paying the price asked for 
the imported article, or of importing the real Spanish 
onions and oflfering them for sale, while the home- 
grown ''Spanish" onion, which is in every way the equal 
of the other, can be had. I would like to see the 
imported bulb crowded out of our markets, at least to 
some extent. It can be done by making use of "the new 
onion culture/' and of the fine varieties of onions of 
the Spanish type which we now possess in the Prize- 
taker and Gibraltar. 

The only problem which remains for us to solve is 
that of keeping the large sweet bulbs of this class until 
spring or early summer, whether this be done by means 
of putting in cold storage, or of exposing to the fumes 
of burning sulphur, or in other ways, at which times 
they would find ready sale at possibly twice the prices 
obtainable for them in the fall. 

The new plan of onion growing can be justly and 
earnestly recommended for four special purposes, viz : 

1. For the production of a full home supply of 
the very finest and largest onions; and, especially to 
the novice, as the very easiest way of securing most 
desirable results. 

2. For growing exhibition onions that will be 
sure to take the prizes at any fair in competition with 
onions grown in the ordinary way. 



XVIU PREFACE 

3. For market gardeners who deal directly with 
retail customers and can work off a lot of really choice 
sweet onions in smaller quantities at high prices with 
their other crops. 

4. As a means to interest your boy or boys in 
gardening operations and making them enthusiasts in 
the business. 

Try the new onion culture on any of these lines. 
If you do your part only reasonably well, your highest 
success will be assured. 

T. Greiner. 

La Salle, N Y, 1903. 



THE WHYS AND WHEREFORES 



A SORT OF INTRODUCTION 

"If I were a tailor, I'd made it my pride 
The best of all tailors to be; 
If I were a tinker, no tinker beside 
Should mend a tin kettle like me." 

Who has never met the "Jack-of-all-trades" — 
knowing" a little of a:ll, and bein^ proficient in none — 
a clever sort of person, and handy to have around as 
a "general utility" man, but never rising- above the level 
of mediocrity in anything, or able to aspire to great 
things, or to command large pay! The man who 
excels, even in a seemingly unimportant specialty, is 
the one wdio will achieve a brilliant success, and get 
big pay for his w^ork. 

Some of my readers undoubtedly have heard, or 
read, the old fable of the fox and the cat. The story, 
like other fables, has a moral, and is worth repeating. 
The two animals met in the woods, when the voices 
of hounds were heard in the distance. 

*Toor pussy," said the fox, ''what will you do 
when the dogs get after you ?" 

'T know a trick," replied the cat, "and am not 
alarmed." 

The hounds, in the meantime, had come pretty 
close, and conversation was brought to a stop. The 



XX THE WHYS AND WHEREFORES 

fox sped through woods, and fields, and meadows, 
playing one trick after another, in the vain attempt to 
throw the hounds off the scent. The pursuers 
remained on his track, and finally overtook and 
grabbed him. 

In his dying moments he looked up and saw the 
cat in the top of a tree, safe from harm. "Your one 
trick is worth more than my whole bagful," sighed he, 
and expired. 

Many farmers are situated pretty much like the 
fox in the fable. They have a whole bagful of tricks 
by which they hope to escape the usurer and the 
sheriff. They raise a little wheat, and a little oats, a 
few potatoes, a little hops, some berries, a few hogs, or 
a cow, a horse, etc, things which often cost them one 
dollar and a quarter for every dollar they get for them. 
They try one trick after another, or two or three at a 
time, changing from one thing to another; and the 
harder they try, the harder they find themselves 
pressed, and at last — pity 'tis, 'tis true — in only too 
many cases they meet a fate somewhat like the fox's. 

The whole bagful of ordinary tricks does not save 
them ; but the one special cat's trick of climbing up to 
the top of the tree or ladder will never fail to give a 
way of escape. To rise above the heads of the crowd — 
that is the trick worth knowing. Learn the one trick 
well, and you'll be safe. 

What I wish to do in this little work, is to tell of a 
genuine cat's trick which I have recently discovered' — 
the trick of climbing up to the top in onion culture. 
To grow larger and better bulbs, and more bushels on a 
given area, than anybody else, has always been my aim 
as an onion grower. Yet it would be a rash move for 
me to defy the competition of growers anywhere who 
have learned and adopted my methods. This is a case 



THE WHYS AND WHEREFORES XXI 

where the scholar may easily get bigger than his 
teacher. 

The new trick or "secret" in onion growing elimi- 
nates almost every element of uncertainty from the 
whole business, and gives to even the novice such ad- 
vantages that experienced growers, and may they live 
in the favored climate of California, would not stand 
the ghost of a chance in competition against him for 
the best crop, so long as they practice only the ordinary 
old method. 

It's mere child's play for me, or anybody that fol- 
lows my new plan, to grow twice as many onions on an 
acre as professional growers do under the old method, 
and to send bulbs to market over which the conimis- 
sion merchants, and the storekeepers, and consumers 
themselves, can grow enthusiastic; bulbs, too, which 
are readily selling for seventy-five cents a bushel, when 
ordinary onions bring fifty cents. 

If I had been shrewd enough to keep the matter 
to myself, and work it for all. it is worth, I might make 
a nice round sum of money by a discretion which, as 
usual, is the better part of valor. But it isn't my 
nature. I have to give the whole thing away, and 
teach my would-be competitors the ways in which they, 
if their soil conditions are more favorable than mine, 
can easily beat me. So I shall at least not be open to 
the charge of taking an unfair advantage over them. 
But, if I cannot be the best of all growers, I will at 
least try 



The best of all teachers to be. 

It may be of interest to some of the readers to 
learn the history of the new onion culture. It was in 
1888 when a new variety of the large "Spanish" type of 



XXll THE WHYS AND WHEREFORES 

onions was introduced under the name of "Prizetaker." 
At that time I had the advantage of the use of as fine 
onion land as the sun ever shone upon, a fairly fertile 
soil in Monmouth county, New Jersey. I always 
made it a practice to test all promising novelties. The 
Prizetaker onion was one of them. It was one of the 
comparatively few novelties which have lasting value. 
It was above all others the one which made the testing 
of novelties so profitable. I could better have afforded 
to pay $500 or even $1000 for this test of the Prize- 
taker onion, than miss the chance to invent ''the new 
onion culture." This is mentioned, to prove, en 
passant, the practical value of novelty tests in general. 
In short, even the first test of the Prizetaker onion, 
although grown in the old way, by sowing seed in 
open ground in early spring, resulted eminently satis- 
factorily. In the fall of that year I had the prettiest, 
most perfect onions, of reasonably large size, imag- 
inable, and I became so enthusiastic over this novelty, 
that I then described the new variety in agricultural 
papers as ''the king of all onions." 

Even the next year, in 1889, seed could only be 
obtained in very small quantities, and this at high 
prices. In order to make every seed count, and know- 
ing how easily onions can be transplanted, I sowed the 
seed in hotbed in March, and transplanted to open 
ground early in May. 

The results were again so gratifying, the bulbs so 
large and attractive, and their quality so much admired 
by all who had a chance to test them, that acquaintances 
and neighbors were infected with my enthusiasm about 
the new onion and the new way of growing it. Among 
them was a lad of fifteen or sixteen summers, with the 
same yearning for pocket money which we expect to 
be the natural inheritance of all other boys. The ap- 
parent ease with which these large and salable bulbs 



THE WHYS AND WHEREFORES XXIU 

were produced, appealed with tempting and irresist- 
ible force to the lad's mind. Finally he came to me 
with a proposition. He must try to grow a larger 
patch for himself. 

There is no surer way to interest a boy in a certain 
task, and start him in the right way and in the habit of 
doing good work, than by letting him know he is to 
receive a share, or possibly the whole of the proceeds 
from his own efforts. There is nothing that will dis- 
courage a boy more quickly than lack of good faith on 
the parent's side. Don't make it the boy's calf and 
the father's cow. 

A prominent seedsman that spring offered a prize 
of $50 for the best crop grown from one ounce of 
Prizetaker seed. That was an extra inducement, so 
the lad got the ounce of seed and sowed it in coldframe 
early in April, transplanted the seedlings to open 
ground in May, and raised a crop amounting to a 
plump ton of nice onions which might have taken the 
prize for largest yield but for the competition by 
growers in California. As it was, the chief purpose 
was accomplished, namely to put a good lot of pocket 
money into the lad's possession. It is safe to promise 
similar results to any boy for similar efforts. 

The experience of these three seasons had now 
firmly and permanently established the practice of 
growing the onions of the Spanish type by the new or 
transplanting method. It now only remained to im- 
prove and systematize this new way, and to bring it 
before the public for more or less general adoption. 
The first edition of The New Onion Culture came out 
in the spring of 1891, and made considerable stir 
among American gardeners. Ever since that time my 
efforts for the further improvement and simplification 
of the new method have been continued, apparently 
with good success. The pages of the little book now 



XXIV THE WHYS AND WHEREFORES 

before the reader, which is an entirely new work, give 
evidence of the progress that has been made, and con- 
tain all the information about the new plan now 
available. 

I claim some credit for the discovery of this novel 
method. Still I admit I am not the first person who 
transplants onions. On a small scale, specimens have 
been grown in England in a similar way for exhibition ; 
various growers have for generations employed the 
transplanting process for filling out gaps in their onion 
rows ; and others have practiced a plan almost idei^tical 
with mine in growing early onions for bunching. But 
to apply the principle to field culture, to reduce the 
crude plan to a system, and to practice, advocate and 
teach it in advance of all others — that, I claim, is my 
merit. 

Professor W. J. Green, of the Ohio experiment 
station, has worked out this same problem, simul- 
taneously with me, but entirely independently. Nei- 
ther of us knew that the other was following the same 
track. The first, though brief, description of the novel 
method appeared in How to Make the Garden Pay, 
written by me in autumn, 1889, and published at 
the beginning of 1890. Professor Green, soon after, 
gave his version of the new onion culture in a bulletin 
issued by the Ohio experiment station, and since then 
the new method has been the subject of innumerable 
newspaper articles, notices in bulletins and in agricul- 
tural books. 

In my attempts to reach a maximum crop, I have 
often met difficulties which many other growers will 
not have to face. For a long time the privilege of 
selecting ideal conditions of soil and locality for my 
operations had been withheld from me, and I have 
had to make the best of circumstances and surround- 
ings in which I happened to be placed by accident or 



THE WHYS AND WHEREFORES XXV 

Otherwise. Yet adverse circumstances have not been 
able to discourage me, and there is no need of anybody 
giving up in despair merely because the conditions at 
his disposal are not the most favorable. By discreet 
management, one can do pretty well even if things do 
not happen to be just as one would like to have them. 

It is perfectly feasible, pierfectly practicable, to 
grow onions by this new plan even on rented land. Yet 
I believe I would rather live in a hut, surrounded by a 
few acres of land, all my own, and be able to say, 
''J'y siiis, fy reste' (here I am and here I stay) than 
live in a rented palace. No matter how poor or defect- 
ive the land, by a little effort here and there, and by 
little additions now and then, the land can be brought 
up to the highest state of fertility and cultivation in a 
few years, and the humble house can gradually be 
transformed into an earthly paradise, and all this with- 
out much actual expense, or conscious effort. This 
course surely will prove more gratifying than to oper- 
ate on rented land, to make improvements from year 
to year, and after a short period of occupancy turn the 
whole over to somebody else, and let others enjoy the 
benefits from the former occupants' labors and pains- 
taking. But in whatever situation in this respect you 
may find yourself, do as I always have fried to do, 
namely, make the most of your opportunities. 

Have I any doubt that Prizetaker and Gibraltar 
onions may be grown in this way by one, two, three or 
four acres with a profit? No, not the least. But this 
book is not written for the purpose of getting the 
reader wild on the subject, and into trouble. It is 
written primarily for the purpose of inducing you to 
make some careful trials of the new onion culture, 
operating at first on a small fraction of an acre of care- 
fully selectee land, to enable you to learn not only how 
to grow the onions, but also how to exchange them for 



XXVI THE WHYS AND WHEREFORES 

cash after they are grown. Then my responsiblHty 
ceases. If you then conclude to grow these onions by 
the acre or acres, you do it at your own risk and pre- 
sumably with full knowledge of what you are doing. 

I had still another object in view in writing this 
onion story. What was done by the lad already men- 
tioned, in this case, can be done by any wide-awake 
youngster of ordinary intelligence. The new onion 
culture points out or opens an easy way to him of earn- 
ing a little pocket money of his own, and of growing 
a crop of which he may be proud, and which will take 
the prize at horticultural fairs, securing a little addi- 
tional reward, notwithstanding the competition of the 
old experienced onion grower who works only on the 
old plan. 

And what a chance for horticultural schooling and 
training this affords besides ! Can there be a better 
opportunity for awakening your boy's interest in horti- 
cultural matters and making him study up horticultural 
problems for himself, than by putting a copy of this 
book, and an ounce or two of Prizetaker or Gibraltar 
onion seed into his hands, and a few square rods of 
good land at his disposal for a start, and then tell him : 

"Go ahead and see what you can do." 



THE NEW 

ONION CULTURE 

CHAPTER I 

Well Begun — Half Done 

HOW THE PLANTS ARE GROWN 

Our aim always is and must be for a prize crop — 
for specimens so large and fine that we can expect the 
first prize at any fair, and are sure of top prices in any 
market. In this an early start is the chief condition of 
full success. Without it the undertaking is not zvcll 
begun; with it, it is really more than half done. This 
includes all reasonable care in procuring the needed 
supply of seed in good time. We try to begin sowing 
seed just as soon after January first as we can get a 
spot for it in the greenhouse or a hotbed. I usually 
have the best success from plants started along in Jan- 
uary or not later than early in February. Yet I have 
grown fine crops from seed sown as late as first week 
in April. It depends somewhat on the season, but the 
earlier sowings ordinarily will give the best crops. 

Some of my onion growing friends grow their 
own Prizetaker onion seed, which is not a particularly 
difficult matter, and insures the possession of the seed 
whenever they wish to sow it. I frequently have 
found difficulty in securing seed, especially of the 



2 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

Gibraltar onion, early enough for sowing in the green- 
house when I most desired to sow, namely in January. 
Sound, medium-sized Prizetakers are easily kept over 
winter, and may be planted out about September first 
or next spring, in furrows six inches deep and five or 
six inches apart, in soil of medium fertility for seed 
production. When most of the seeds in a head are ripe, 
the head is cut off and put away in a dry and airy spot, 
to dry, and the seed then thrashed out ahu properly 
cleaned. 




Fig 3 — YELLOW PRIZETAKEIi ONION 



When we depend on the seedsman for our supply, 
however, the order must be given in good season so 
that the seeds will be on hand when needed. Only two 
varieties come in consideration with me, the Yellow 
Prizetaker (Fig 3) and the Gibraltar onions. At pres- 
ent there is little demand for red onions of any kind, 
and for the pink (or red) Prizetaker no more than for 
Wethersfield or Red Globe. The yellow sorts are the 



HOW THE PLANTS ARE GROWN 3 

ones that are wanted. For experiment you may plant 
any other sort or sorts that you care about. 

In a small way, plants may be raised in boxes (so- 
called flats) placed in a kitchen window. A flat ten by 
eighteen inches will give plants enough for a full 
family supply of fine onions. Such a box should be 
about four inches deep, and be filled with very rich, 
clean soil, or with rich compost covered about an inch 
deep with clean sand. Plants raised in flat, ready for 
transplanting, are seen in Fig 4. 




Fig 4 — PLANTS READY FOR TRANSPLANTING 



The great majority of gardeners have no green- 
house facilities. They must make use of hotbeds. For 
operations during February or March, at least in a 
northern climate, cold frames will not answer ; nor will 
muslin covering. Common hotbed sash is the neces- 
sary thing to cover hotbeds at this time. 

There are two ways of constructing a hotbed ; one 
by digging a pit and filling this with a two-foot layer 
of fresh and fermenting horse manure, as shown in 
Fig 5 ; another by piling this manure layer directly 
upon the ground, a frame corresponding with the size 
and desired number of hotbed sashes to be placed in 



4 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

either case upon the manure, and then filled with pre- 
pared "hotbed" soil, as shown in Fig 6. 

It is only for a southern location, or for very late 
planting at the North, that an ordinary cold frame 
may be made to answer. This is a simple box of 
boards or planks, slanting from the rear, where it is 
about twelve inches high, to front, where it is only six 
to eight inches high. This box is set directly upon the 
ground in some well-drained and well-protectecl sunny 
spot, facing south or southeast. It is then filled with 




7JP^rj,r^r^^,JM>i^^ 



m 





a mixture of good turfy loam, sand, and a little fine 
old compost to about four inches from the top. Ordi- 
nary rich garden soil, freed from stones and rubbish 
by sifting, and further enriched with fine old compost, 
well mixed and sifted together, will also answer every 
purpose. The surface is made fine and smooth with a 
steel rake, and marked off with straight furrows from 
front to rear. They are easily drawn across with the 
handle of the rake, or with a little stick, or even the 
finger, and should be about an inch deep, and about 
one and a half inches apart, or as close as they can be 
made conveniently. 



HOTBEDS 5 

I SOW about one and a half ounces of seed on the 
space covered by a single sash frame, which is usually 
three feet by six or nearly that, and expect from it 
from 5000 to 8000 plants. To grow the 120,000 plants 
required for a one-acre patch would therefore call for 
the use of a frame of not less than nearly twenty 
sashes. 

The seed is to be evenly scattered into the furrows, 
and the latter carefully filled in again with the hand. 
The soil is then well firmed by pressing a piece of 
board or block of wood down upon it. The sash or 
sashes are then put on, and the bed left pretty much 









Fig 6 — HOTBED ON LEVEL GROUND 



to itself, except giving air on fine days, and an occa- 
sional thorough watering when the soil seems to 
become very dry. In eight weeks, more or less, the 
plants will be ready for transfer to open ground. 

Personally, I am getting to be more and more in 
favor of greenhouses for growing plants of any kind, 
and of onion plants in particular. We have to start 
onion plants early — earlier, really, than it is conven- 
ient to make and operate hotbeds, unless the latter are 
heated by an ordinary flue, or, still better, by the 
waste steam of factories. 

A so-called fire hotbed (one heated by a flue) is a 
rather simple affair, and easily and cheaply put up 



O THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

when you have the needed sashes at command. Select 
a well-drained and well-protected spot for the bed. 
If possible, it should slightly slope to north or south. 
Dig a pit at lowest end for a simple furnace, and with 
a few firebrick, some grate bars, and an iron door, 
build a fireplace. The flue should run under the center 
of the bed, ending in a chimney at the upper end. 
The hotbed itself is a simple frame, with a scantling 
as a ridgepole, say two feet above the ground, and a 
line of ten or twelve-inch plank on each side. The two 
rows of sashes, resting on light rafters, and meeting 
over the ridgepole, form a kind of a gable roof over 
the bed. 

This arrangement, of course, is simply a modified 
hotbed. The operator has to get at his work in open 
air, by raising or removing sashes, as in ordinary hot- 
beds. Still he has this advantage, that he can control 
the bottom heat. Whenever he gets ready, and no 
matter how hard the ground may be frozen, he can 
start up his fire, and soon get the bed in shape for 
planting. If you have an opportunity to use waste 
steam, you should consider yourself especially for- 
tunate. You may be able to conduct it into lines of 
two-inch tiles laid right under the frames, and thus 
secure a reliable and controllable medium of heating 
your plant beds at smallest expense. It is a chance 
too good to be neglected. 

But there is nothing to hinder you from utilizing 
this same waste steam in greenhouse heating; and if 
you have the sashes anyway, you can put one up quite 
cheaply. In the absence of waste steam, a simple flue 
might be made to answer. The illustration will give 
you an idea of the construction of building. Put up a 
simple frame, three-quarters span, and board up at 
the sides and back. Better have these walls double, 
and well lined with paper, or the space filled with dry 



FORCING PITS 7 

sawdust. Three rows of ordinary hotbed sashes form 
the roof. The flue is situated as shown in Fig 7, and 
heated from a fireplace constructed as described for 
the fire hotbed. There is no need of going further 
into the details. I will only call attention to some of 
the advantages of this plan. 

In the first place, there is next to no money outlay 
required for it. The few boards and scantling needed 
for the frame can be found on almost any place, or 
can be had for little money. Anybody of ordinary 
intelligence and mechanical skill can put up the frame. 




J « 8 i.- 6 6 7 «/ » 10 

Fig 7 — FORCING PIT, COVERED WITH HOTBED SASHES 

A few of the sashes can be hinged, to serve for venti- 
lation. You can do all the work of running this half- 
and-half arrangement under shelter and with comfort. 
The flue being on one side gives a chance to raise all 
the diflferent vegetable plants. The high bed furthest 
back, over the flue, will be the warmest. Here you 
can start tomato, pepper and egg plants, etc, or use it 
for forcing cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. The next bed, 
in the center, which is somewhat cooler, may be used 
for tomato, pepper, early cabbage and similar plants 
after they are well started, also for forcing lettuce, 
radishes, etc. The bed on the ground level is the 
coolest and just right for growing onion plants. 



8 



THE NEW ONION CULTURE 



A building- of this kind is much better and handier 
— and cheaper in the end, because more satisfactory 
and more proHfic of results — than ordinary hotbeds. 
If you are not afraid to invest an extra one hundred 
dollars or so, better put in a hot water heater, with the 
necessary pipes. The house will be managed with 
one-half the labor, and double the satisfaction. 

A neat little greenhouse well suited to the needs of 
the small grower and amateur, is shown in Figs 8 and 
9. It is a double-span house, a little more costly than 
the other, but extremely convenient, and fit for raising 




Fig 8 — SMALL GREENHOUSE — ELEVATION 



any kind of vegetable or flower plants, or forcing any 
kind of ordinary vegetable. The pit for the heater 
is dug at the north end of one of the spans. If I 
build another, however, I should have only one span 
of double the length. 

Many other styles of greenhouses might be men- 
tioned. Some growers who have a lot of hotbed sash 
available for the purpose will wish to put up a cheap 
structure and utilize their stock of sashes for the roof. 
A house of this kind does not cost much, and with a 
little ingenuity and good management may be made 
to answer any purpose of an onion plant nursery. 
It should be remembered that onion plants are quite 



SMALL GREENHOUSES 9 

hardy. They are not injured by a Hght frost, nor by 
extremes of temperature Or sudden changes, nor by a 
direct transfer from greenhouse to open air conditions 
without previous hardening off. It is true, however, 
that we can force more rapid growth at a compara- 
tively high temperature, ranging say between sixty 
and ninety or more degrees Fahrenheit, than in a 
much lower one. 

One of my friends, near a neighboring city, who 
has grown several acres of Prizetakers on the new 
plan yearly for several years, has taken another course 
to secure his hundreds of thousands of plants. In his 
vicinity lives a party who makes a business of growing 




Fig 9 — SMALL GREENHOUSE — CROSS SECTION 



annually a million or two of tomato plants under con- 
tract for some large canning houses which supply the 
plants to their tomato growers. Some of the green- 
houses in which these plants are grown usually stand 
empty until nearly the time that onions can be taken 
off the benches and set in open ground. A crop of 
onion plants may 'here be produced just as well as not, 
and with but slight additional expense. So my friend 
contracts for his plants with these tomato plant grow- 
ers with profit to both parties in the transaction. 

In my own little greenhouse I have for many years 
done exactly as these professional plant growers do, 
namely, have grown my onion plants during the win- 



lO THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

ter; and when the benches were cleared from them in 
April, filled the vacant spaces up with tomato, egg and 
pepper plants just as fast as there was a chance. Thus 
I make the best use of my available bench room. 

Often there is considerable call for Prizetaker 
onion plants in early spring, and even up to June. 
The price usually asked for them ranges from fifty 
cents to one dollar per thousand plants, and I am sure 
that they can be grown at that figure at a good profit 
where greenhouses are available, and possibly stand 
idle anywhere during a part of that time. 

In growing onion seedlings under glass I have 
had to fight only one single enemy — and that is the 
damping-ofT fungus. I have at times lost a consider- 
able portion of my plants from this cause. The stem 
appears to dwindle away near, usually just below, the 
surface of the ground, and the top falls over and dries 
away. The infection undoubtedly comes from the soil. 
If we use new soil, or any soil that is free from the 
fungus, the plants will remain healthy. Watering the 
soil freely with a solution of copper sulphate, a pound 
to two hundred gallons of water, has seemed to prevent 
the loss of plants from this cause. An excessively 
high temperature and a close, moist atmosphere should 
be avoided, and the surface of the bed should never be 
allowed to become dust dry. To provide for possible 
loss caused by the disease, however, I practice and 
advise sowing seed rather thickly as already stated 
(not less than one and one-half ounces to the space 
covered by an ordinary hotbed sash). It is better to 
be compelled to thin plants where too thick, than to 
have large vacant spots in the bed. 

It is possible, however, to prepare the seed bed in 
such a manner that the fungus is entirely kept out. 
For instance, I have used clear, sharp sand brought 
fresh from the bank of the river, sowed the seed in 



PREPARING THE SEED BED 



II 



this, and then fed the plants entirely on liquid manure. 
I have a cistern under one corner of the barn. The 
rain water washes a good deal of pigeon manure off 
the roof into thi'fe cistern. Then I add chemical ferti- 
lizers, especially acid phosphate, muriate of potash and 
a little nitrate of soda or potash, and find that by 




Fig 10 A WELL-PREPARED SEED BED 



watering the onion beds copiously with this liquid, 
I can force a very rapid growth in my seedlings. 

Another safe plan is to fill the seed bed, bench, 
frame or box pretty well up with good old compost, 
or very rich soil well pressed down, and on top of this 
to place a layer, an inch or inch and a half deep, of 
clear, sharp river sand. The seed is sown into this 
sand. The roots of the seedlings will soon get down 



12 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

into the rich feeding grounds under the sand, and 
produce a wonderfully thrifty and healthy growth, as 
seen in Fig lo. 

A further advantage of this method is that but 
few weeds come up among the onion plants. If weeds 
appear, pull them up by hand. Where plants stand 
overcrowded in the rows, thin, even severely, where 
needed. The bed will require frequent and copious 
watering. When the plants are making good growth, 
during latter part of February and especially in the 
sunshiny days of March, I give my onion seedlings 
their regular daily soaking. 

When standing as thickly in the beds as I want 
them they are also sure to get top-heavy and will need 
repeated and severe clipping. I usually cut them back 
with a pair of common sheep shears, removing each 
time nearly the full upper half (in length) of the 
plant. Our aim is to get seedlings the bulb of which, 
just above the roots, is between one-eighth and three- 
sixteenths of an inch in diameter (if of nearly pencil 
thickness, all the better) , and this by the time that the 
open ground is ready to receive them. 



CHAPTER II 
As You Make Your Bed, So You'll Lie 

WHAT SOIL TO SELECT, HOW TO MANURE AND 
PREPARE IT 

"What spot woukl you advise me to select for 
my onion patch?" 

The inquirer had told me that he had a piece of 
good loam, not excessively fertile, 'tis true, but having 
been cropped with carrots and beets the year before, 
consequently quite clean, and in fair tilth, and of 
course, well underdrained. 

"That is the exact spot you want," said I. 

"Why not plant it on that deep, rich muck?" 
came the next query. 

"It is decidedly too loose and moist. The fine 
Gibraltars and Prizetakers might all take a notion to 
grow up thick-necked — romps, scallions, and worthless 
for sale or keep. By all means take loam, sandy pre- 
ferred, and if possible with good natural drainage, but 
certainly not without thorough diainage of some kind. 
Water should never stand on the surface of an onion 
patch even for a single day." 

On the whole, however, I do not object to well- 
drained, deep, rich muck. I myself have grown ex- 
cellent crops, in the old way, on such soil, and once 
I went through a several-acre patch in Mt Morris, 
N Y — soil being muck with a little sand mixed in, 
and the land arranged for sub-irrigation — which had 
an enormous crop of Yellow Dan vers upon it, un- 
doubtedly more than looo bushels per acre. It will 



14 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

be hard to find better onion soil than a well-drained, 
well-subdued sandy muck. 

With good plants, and an early start, I would not 
hesitate to set Prizetakers or Gibraltars on such well- 
drained muck land. Small, poorly-grown plants, set 
late in the season on moist muck soil that is exces- 
sively rich in nitrogen and less abundantly supplied 
with mineral plant foods, are liable, especially in a 
wet season, to give you thick-necked, worthless onions, 
and plants rather than bulbs. Sand and sandy loam, 
however, favor this undesirable development much less 
than other soils. 




Fig II — A PERFECT CROP OF GIBRALTAR ONIONS 

I wish to call especial attention to this fact, that 
wherever plants of nearly pencil thickness were set 
reasonably early in the season, the onions were large, 
uniform and fine, without break in the row, and the 
yield at a high acre rate. One of the finest crops of 
perfect bulbs — of Gibraltars, Yellow and Pink Prize- 
takers — that I ever grew, I secured last year on a clay 
loam of only fair fertility, but having good drainage. 
The season was excessively wet, especially in its earlier 
part, and reports received by me showed that many 
patches of onions of this type, all over the country, 
produced little else but scallions. My patch had re- 
ceived only a light dressing of old stable manure, but 
a good dose of muriate of potash and acid phosphate. 



WHAT SOIL TO SELECT 



1^ 



at the rate of several hundred pounds each per acre, 
appHed broadcast just before the last harrowing. Such 
an application seems always safe, in fact safer than 
the use of excessive quantities of organic and nitrog- 
enous manures, except on sandy soils. 

Stimulated by the continuous and excessive rain- 
fall of the earlier part of the season, the onion plants 
showed some tendency to produce thick necks, and a 
continuation of these abnormal conditions might have 
spoiled the patch. But the rains finally ceased, recur- 
ring only at reasonable intervals and just sufficiently 




Fig 12 — ROW OF SCALLIONS 



to provide a fair supply of moisture for healthy 
growth. The outcome was a crop of onions which as 
an average appeared as seen in Fig ii in comparison 
with scallions, Fig 12, the single specimens weighing 
from three-fourths to one and one-half pounds apiece. 
The soil must be free from stones and coarse 
gravel, and rubbish of any kind, and as near as pos- 
sible, also, from weed seeds. A new clover sod that 
will pulverize nicely will do first rate ; but if the sod 
is old and tough, it would hardly be suitable for our 
purpose shortly after being broken. A crop of pota- 
toes, corn, beets, carrots, cabbages, etc, will get such a 
sod land in admirable shape for a succeeding crop 
of onions. 



l6 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

Whatever the soil, and in whatever condition, the 
leavings of the preceding crop, coarse weed stalks, 
etc, should be removed with great care before the plow 
is struck in. All such rubbish interferes in a very 
inconvenient manner with after-cultivation, and any 
neglect in the proper preparation of the soil will be 
greatly regretted later in the season. 

This disposes of the problem what soil to select 
for the onion crop. Now what about manure? Some 
suggestions have already been given. I have usually 
recommended greatest liberality in the use of all sorts 
of manurial substances. 

Fig 13 — ONIONS IN THE NEW STRAWBERRY BED 

"Put it on thick" is still my advice when we have 
plenty of any kind of good compost that is reasonably 
free from weed seeds, and the soil is of a rather sandy 
nature. But if the latter is strong loam and very rich 
already, or a loose rich muck, I feel that light dress- 
ings of organic manures will do well enough, and may 
be safer, the larger proportion of the plant foods to be 
given in the form of standard chemicals, especially 
plain superphosphate (such as dissolved South Carolina 
rock) and muriate of potash, up to 500 pounds per 
acre of the former and 200 or 250 pounds of the latter, 
and an occasional light dressing, say 100 pounds, of 
nitrate of soda if the plants seem to need it, that is, 



WHAT MANURE TO USE 17 

if they fail to make a thrifty succulent growth. These 
applications of chemical manures, especially phosphate 
and potash, I believe are always safe and will seldom 
fail to show good results. Yet I do not wish to be 
understood as asserting that good onion crops cannot 
be grown without them. I have seen and grown ex- 
cellent crops of fine solid bulbs on good soil manured 
only with common barnyard or stockyard manure. 

All sorts of domestic manures come acceptable for 
onion growing — horse manure, cow manure, hog 




Fig 14 — DISK HARROW OR PULVERIZER 

manure, sheep manure, poultry manure — or all sorts 
of mixtures and composts, the finer the better. Poultry 
manure is most excellent for onions, and there is n(^ 
need of being afraid of it. My way of managing it is 
to scatter some dry soil, muck or sifted coal ashes 
under the perches from time to time. Thus I obtain 
a fine, dry, rich compost, and I would not hesitate to 
put this inch-deep all over the ground if I could only 
get enough of it for such a dressing. It brings the 
onions every time. I usually apply it after the ground 
is plowed in spring, mixing it with the surface soil by 
thorough harrowing. 

Besides these manures I would use everything else 



l8 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

I could get hold of in the shape of fertilizing ma- 
terials, such as wood ashes, leached and unleached, 
etc ; but I should not use raw manure, and none not 
reasonably free from weed seeds, as I have already 
stated. 

For house use, and especially to secure a supply of 
fine bulbs for the table during midsummer, I have 
sometimes planted a lot of onion seedlings in the new 
strawberry patch, in the manner illustrated in Fig 13. 

I usually plant my strawberries rather farther 
apart than most people. I lay off the rows four feet 
apart, and set the plants three feet apart, and for such 




Fig 15 — ACME HARROW 

inveterate plant-makers at Michel's Early perhaps 
even four feet apart in the rows. This leaves plenty 
of vacant space between the plants, which may be 
utilized to good advantage by setting half a dozen or a 
dozen of onion plants between each two strawberry 
plants in the row. Of course these onion plants are 
pulled up early, sometimes even for green onions, and 
in most cases before the tops have entirely died down, 
so as to make room for the strawberry runners, which 
in the latter part of the season try to occupy the entire 
space in the rows. But I have grown as large and 
solid onions in this manner, and this without extra 
fussing and with less painstaking than in the regular 
onion patch. 



HOW TO FIT THE LAND I9 

HOW TO FIT THE LAND FOR THE ONION CROP 

If at all practicable, I invariably try to plow the 
land deeply and thoroughly during- the fall previous, 
leaving it in the rough and exposed to the benevolent 
action of the weather, especially repeated freezing and 
thawing. Fine manure in the desired quantity may 
be applied any time during the winter or early spring 
directly upon the plowed surface, or upon the snow 
covering it. 

While spring plowing may not be required on 
mucky or loose loamy soils, I would not omit it if the 
soil is packed hard by winter rains and snows, or if 




Fig 16 MEEKER SMOOTHING HARROW 

the manure applied is in the least coarse. Manure that 
will not work up perfectly fine, and mixed with the 
soil will not make a perfect seed bed, should be 
plowed under. 

On our awn soils we have to use the disk har- 
row or pulverizer (Fig 14) in order to get the land in 
best condition. This cuts deep and works the ground 
over very thoroughly. I prefer to use this first, then 
follow with the Acme (Fig 15), which smooths the 
surface that the disk has left somewhat ridged. In 
the absence of an Acme, a common smoothing harrow 
or drag will do very well. Should neither disk nor 
Acme be at command, I would use a narrow-bladed 
cultivator, such as the Planet Jr or Iron Age horse 
hoe, or a spike-tooth cultivator, stirring up the whole 



20 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

surface, and thus mixing the compost with the soil in 
a thorough manner. 

The rich, fine sandy loams, or soils which, like 
sandy muck, contain a large amount of organic matter 
cr humus, will not usually need so much manipulation. 
The free use of an ordinary *'drag" or smoothing 
harrow after plowing will be all that is required to 
get the surface reasonably smooth and fine. Chemical 
manures, if to be used, may now be applied broadcast 
or with a drill. Nitrate of soda only is to be with- 
held for a while and for application later on. 

To put the finishing touches on the land, I inva- 
riably use the Meeker smoothing harrow (Fig i6). 
In fact, I would hardly know how to get along without 
it. This makes the surface about as even as could be 
done by hand raking, and in one-tenth or one-twentieth 
the work or time required for the latter operation. 
The Meeker harrow costs twenty dollars or more, but 
it is a great labor saver, and almost indispensable in 
the market or farm garden. The ordinary steel rake, 
however, is good enough for smaller patches. What- 
ever tools you use, the surface should be as smooth as 
a board, and the land is then ready for planting. 



CHAPTER III 

A Difficulty Easily Overcome 

HOW THE PLANTS ARE SET IN THE GROUND 

To transplant a few hundred onion plants is not a 
formidable task, but when you set 120,000, covering an 
acre, you have a big- job on hand, and no mistake. 
Indeed it is the work connected with my new onion 
culture ; all the rest of it is easy — mere child's play, I 
might say. 

It takes about 120,000 plants to set an acre of 
onions. I can get boys, that, with some practice, will 
set 2000 to 3000 plants a day, and nimble-fingered per- 
sons, used to garden work, will easily set 4000 or 5000. 
The job of planting an acre is therefore equivalent to 
probably not less than twenty-five days' work, and in 
some cases this estimate may be considerably exceeded ; 
but the amount of thirty dollars should certainly be 
enough to pay for the whole job, when we pay boys 
fifty cents, and more experienced persons one dollar or 
one dollar and a quarter for a good day's work. 

Transplanting so many onions may be a costly 
operation, but it relieves us of much, if not all, hand 
weeding, and entirely of the job of thinning. Old 
onion growers know something about the tediousness 
and costliness of these operations. The saving, in 
these respects, more than pays for the labor of trans- 
planting. 

'TIow far apart shall I set the plants?" That is 
the next thing the novice wants to know. I have for 
years made the rows an even foot apart, and crowded 



22 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

the plants as much as I dared to in the row, in the 
attempt to secure the largest possible rate of yield. 
Aly motto was : "No use wasting space and oppor- 
tunity." But I got over that notion. I find that I can 
give the patch better attention, more thorough and 
continued after-culture, if I make the rows fourteen 
inches apart, and set Gibraltars four inches, and Prize- 
takers not less than three inches apart in the rows. 
It is only when I plant onion seedlings to be pulled 
up early for green or bunching onions (and they are 
admirable for that purpose) that I crowd them to 
two inches in the row. 




Fig 17 — OLD STYLE GARDEN MARKER 

For garden markers, we have almost up to this 
time relied chiefly on homemade affairs, such as the 
one shown in Fig 17. This has the one great disad- 
vantage of compelling the operator to walk backward 
or sideways. A set of handles might be attached at 
the rear by which one person can do the steering while 
another pulls it along horse-fashion. I now have dis- 
carded this implement altogether. 

For marking out the rows for onions in smaller 
patches, up to one-eighth or even one-fourth acre, 
I commonly use an Iron Age hand wheel hoe, fitting 
it for that particular purpose by removing the side 
hoes, and adjusting the single-tooth attachment shown 
in Fig 18. With this I can make lighter or heavier 
furrows, by bearing more or less lieavily on the han- 



MARKING THE ROWS 



23 



dies. It is especially useful for loosening up the soil 
in the furrows when it has become somewhat hard or 
packed. When simply marking out for setting the 
plants, I take the regular marking attachment from 
the drill, and put it on this tool. During the earlier 
part of the season, or during the entire period of 
setting onion plants, I keep one wheel-hoe fixed in 
this manner right along, as then the time for using it 
as a hoe has not yet arrived, and the marker is needed 
about every day. 

Gardeners who work with the Planet Jr combined 
wheel-hoe and drill, mav transform it into a three- 




Fig 18 SINGLE TOOTH 

ATTACHMENT 




19 — THREE-TOOTH MARKER 



tooth marker as suggested in Fig 19. If properly 
made, it will give good service. I suggest still another 
plan — simply an idea of my own. How would you 
like a marker devised on the principle of the dress- 
maker's tracing wheel ? I believe it can be pushed and 
managed more easily than any other marker we have 
yet mentioned. The little wheels may be turned from 
hard wood. The construction is easy and so simple 
that it will be unnecessary to give details. See Fig 20. 
Straight and uniform rows add largely to the 
attractiveness of the patch, even if they were not of 
practical usefulness in facilitating the work of culti- 
vating, and perhaps otherwise. Whatever marker we 



24 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

use, therefore, we take the utmost pains to get the rows 
perfectly straight. When we start in right once, the 
rest is easy enough. Usually I get the first row in 
straight line, if it is a rather long one, by setting 
three stakes as a guide. We begin straight and try 
to keep straight. It eases our conscience, and avoids 
offense to the eye. I now mark only one way, leaving 
it to the eye,' to practice, and to good judgment, to 
maintain the proper distance between the plants in 
the row. 




Fig 20 — TRACING WHEEL MARKER 



How is the planting done? In the first place it 
should be remembered that plant setting, like seed 
sowing, is always done most easily and most con- 
veniently when the ground is freshly prepared. We 
can then set nearly or fully twice as many plants in 
the same length of time, as a few days later after 
the ground has again become hard or packed down 
by rains. 

If the ground is freshly prepared, and as loose 
and mellow as we should expect it under the circum- 
stances, I prefer to set the plants with the fingers 
alone, and without the use of a dibber. It is a simple 



SETTING THE PLANTS 2^ 

and quick operation, too, and for myself, I could, if 
I wanted to keep at it, easily set 6000 plants in ten 
working hours. I take hold of the plant with the 
lef hand, place it with the root end just a trifle to the 
right of the place where I wish to have it planted, 
and then with the thumb or index finger of the right 
hand press the bulb or lower end of the plant down 
into the soft earth until it stands just where I want 
it. This is the work of a very few seconds, and all 




1 



Fig 21 — SETTING THE PLANTS WITH DIBBER 

I have to do afterward is to run the fingers over the 
ground near the plant to fill up the hole left by the 
manipulation, smoothing the surface. 

My plan is to have a patch planted as quickly 
as possible after the ground has been put in shape, and 
it will usually pay well to get extra help to do it, 
rather than string the work along by keeping only a 
small force at it. If by any chance we have to quit 
and let the soil become hard and packed, I always try 
to refit it anew by harrowing and marking, before 
going at the plant setting business once more. 

If plants have to be set into hard soil, a small 
dibber will be needed. This may be made of a piece 



26 



THE NEW ONION CULTURE 



of seasoned hardwood, six inches long, one inch in 
diameter at large end, and tapering to a point at the 
other. The operation of setting the plants with the 
dibber is made so plain by the accompanying illustra- 
tion (Fig 21 ), that little explanation by words will 
be needed. Open the hole with the dibber and insert 
the plant an inch or so deep. Then strike the dibber 
into the ground an inch or so back of the plant, and. 



i 



Fig 22 — OLD KITCHEN KNIFE AS DIBBER Fig 23 — DIBBER 




using the lower end as a pivotal point, draw the 
upper end toward you, thus pressing the soil firmly 
against the underground part of the little plant. This, 
of course, leaves another little opening a little back 
of the plant. This may be closed, and the surface 
somewhat smoothed by another light stab or so with 
the dibber, or a simple manipulation of the fingers. 

A broken kitchen knife ground to a point (see Fig 
22), or a little flat steel dibber with handle, such as 
shown in Fig 23, and as may be made by any black- 



SETTING THE PLANTS 



27 



smith at small cost, 'will always do good service. In 
opening the hole have the flat side of knife or dibber 
facing you. Then insert the plant back of the dibber, 
withdraw the latter and strike in again back of the 




offh* 



Fig 24 — TRIMMING THE PLANTS 



plant, pressing the soil against the roots in the same 
manner as was done with the wooden dibber. 

A good way of managing the whole operation is 
as follows: Take up a lot of plants from the seed 
bed, which may be done by running the point of a 
small trowel under them, and lifting them out. Care- 
fully separate and straighten them out. Next trim 



28 



THE NEW ONION CULTURE 



off a part of the tops, if long and slender, and the 
ends of the roots, as shown in Fig 24. The work of 
setting out the plants is more conveniently done, and 
will proceed much faster when the plants are short 
and stiff than when they are left encumbered with an 
excess of flimsy growth at each end. Besides, the 
untrimmed plants are liable to bend or fall over, and 
be in the way of the wheel-hoe and in danger of being 
torn out; while the trimmed plants stand up straight 





Fig 25 — WRONG WAY 



Fig 26 — RIGHT WAY 



and stiff from the very start, and allow the use of 
the wheel-hoe immediately after they are set out. 

In short, I believe in shortening the plants at 
both ends very thoroughly. It will do no harm, and 
may do some good to trim the roots away to within 
almost a half inch of the bulb or stem. With long 
roots left on, some of the boys are bound to set the 
plants in the manner shown in Fig 25, while the plants 
with short roots are more likely to be properly planted 
as shown in Fig 26. The new roots start out directly 
from the end of the stem, and the plants with closely 
trimmed roots will usually take hold of the ground 
more promptly than those with all roots left on. . 



SETTING THE PLANTS 



29 



When the plants are thus prepared for setting and 
bunched off, let a boy take a basketful of them and 
drop them in bunches just ahead of the planters. Of 
course, the work should be begun just as soon as the 
ground can be got in proper shape. The soil must 
be moist and crumbly, but not wet or sticky. Begin 




Fig 2y — PLANT SET RIGHT DEPTH 



with the plants that were started first, or are largest, 
and carry the job to completion as speedily as possible. 
The question is often asked how deep onion plants 
should be set. An onion plant will live and make a 
bulb whether you set it a half inch or three inches 
deep. But we want the bulb to grow pretty well out 
of the ground. This seems to be the nature of the 
onion plant. In order to show this in a theoretical 



3^ 



THE NEW ONION CULTURE 



way I have drawn the illustrations which picture the 
objects in reduced size. Fig 2^ shows the plant set 
one inch deep, the roots reaching further down, and 
before long probably finding their way clear down to 
the subsoil. The bulb will spread out to full size as 
indicated by the dotted lines. This brings it just 




Fig 28 PLANT SET TOO DEEP 



where we want it, namely, two-thirds or more above 
the surface of the ground, where it can be easily 
worked and harvested. In Fig 28 the plant is shown 
as being set one and one-half inches deep. If planted 
in a dry time, and in dry soil, the roots may find more 
moisture and the plant revive more quickly after the 
transfer, but the bulb is rather too far down in the 



SETTING THE PLANTS 3I 

ground. Altogether I believe that one inch in depth 
is just about right. 

Efforts have been made by a number of persons, 
to my knowledge, to construct a machine which will 
set onion plants expeditiously and in a perfect manner. 
Thus far I have not seen the machine that will do 
better and quicker work than a nimble-fingered, active 
and willing youngster or man. And yet the possibility 
of finding such a machine, after a while, is by no 
means excluded. We will welcome it whenever it 
makes its appearance. 



CHAPTER IV 
A Perseverance That Pays 

TILLAGE AS MOISTURE PRESERVER AND WEED KILLER 

Little needs be said to the expert gardener about 
cultivation and its objects. He knows the importance 
of keeping the soil well stirred among all garden crops 
in general, and among onions in particular. ''Tillage 
is manure" is an old saying. In the present case, how- 
ever, we care little about the manurial effect, for we 
have provided plant food in great abundance. The 
great benefit we expect from cultivation is the pres- 
ervation of moisture, and incidentally, the destruction 
of weeds. An inch or so of loose soil acts as a mulch, 
and a most excellent one at that, which prevents the 
rapid evaporation of the soil water. The moisture 
rises through the compact soil, by means of capillary 
action, vmtil it reaches the stirred portion. Here its 
progress is arrested, and the only way to reach the 
surface, and escape in the air, is by evaporation, which 
is greatly retarded by the loose layer of soil. 

The chief tool required for the process of soil 
stirring is a good hand wheel-hoe, such as the Iron 
Age shown in Fig 29 or the Planet Jr, or any of a 
number of others that you find on sale at seed and 
supply stores. One of these tools you should and 
must have. It is absolutely indispensable. I never 
use the vine lifters even when using my Iron Age as 
a row straddler. Sometimes I can do even more satis- 
factory work with it, when I use it as a single wheel- 
hoe and, reversing the hoes, go between the rows. You 



TILLAGE 33 

may try both ways and select the one that seems to 
work best. 

We begin running the wheel hoe over the onion 
patch a few days after the plants are set out, and 
repeat the operation just as soon as there is the least 
sign of a crust over the surface. The aim is to keep 
the mulch of loose soil on the ground all the time. 
Running a wheel hoe in clean mellow soil is not heavy 
work. The average boy will rather enjoy it. In real- 




Fig 29 — IRON AGE HAND WHEEL HOE 

ity it is probably the least tiresome work in the whole 
business. An acre can be gone over by one person, 
even a boy, inside of one day. Fig 30 represents a 
youngster pushing the wheel-hoe in the onion field. 

Usually we begin operations with the double 
wheel-hoe, straddling the rows. As the season ad- 
vances we change to the single wheel-hoe (Fig 31), 
running it between the rows. 

'Ts no hand weeding to be done at all?" you may 
ask me. 




bo 



TILLAGE 



35 



That depends. If the soil is of weedy character, 
or the patch is neglected for any length of time, we 
may find considerable work— and disagreeable work — 




Fig 31 — SINGLE WHEEL HOE 

to do on hands and knees. With timely attention little 
is needed, and that little can be done very eflfectivelv 
by means of Lang's hand weeder, or of a kitchen 




Fig 32 — lang's hand weeder 

knife, the blade of which is bent in the shape of a 
curve, and sharpened on both sides. The way the 
hand weeder is used is illustrated in Fig 32. There 
are other styles of hand weeders in the market, and 
almost any of them answer their purpose first rate. 



36 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

A most excellent tool for taking out the weeds 
in the rows from between the plants can be easily 
made from an old worn-out hoe, leaving the lower 
part (between the corners) only about two or two 
and one-half inches wide, as shown in Fig 33. With 
this sharp-cornered tool you can strike between the 
plants, cutting out the weeds, and loosening the soil. 
This manipulation and the free use of the wheel-hoe 
will usually be all the cultivation needed. But the 
hand which wields the sharpened hoe should be a 
careful one, and be guided by a head possessing a 




Fig 33 — HOMEMADE ONION HOE 

fair degree of intelligence, otherwise the onion plants 
may have to suflfer. 

Will it be feasible to substitute a mulch of fine 
manure or other litter for cultivation and weeding? 
I do not think so, unless it be on sandy soil and in a 
very dry season. The plan works well in growing 
celery. It may be tried, cautiously, for onions. In 
a wet season it will increase the tendency of the plants 
to make scallions. I have, however, had reports from 
several intelligent growers who told me that they had 
used a mulch in the onion patch with excellent results 
in a dry season. 

A continuous supply of moisture, furnished by 
sufficient but not excessive rainfall, makes a large yield 



IRRIGATION 37 

reasonably certain. Whether irrigation can be made 
to take the place of the natural water supply, is still 
an unsolved problem, at least with us. An oversupply 
at any time is liable to produce a large proportion 
of scallions, and the bulbs will be of inferior quality 
and prove poor keepers. Even in irrigation countries, 
in no case is it advised to irrigate oftener than once 
a week. 



CHAPTER V 
A Timely Pull and Haul 

WHEN AND now TO HARVEST THE CROT» 

Now we come to an important point in our under- 
taking. A little neglect in pulling and hauling may 
result in great damage, if not ruin to the crop. I know 
whereof I speak. When grown by the new method, 
the onions mature several weeks earlier than they 
would if grown in the old way. If the mature bulbs 
are left in the ground, especially if ripened somewhat 
prematurely by a dry spell in July and August, and a 
long period of rain should follow, as sometimes hap- 
pens, growth will be renewed; and we might just as 
well try to make water run up hill as attempt to stop 
an onion from growing when once started. Of course 
this second growth ruins the bulb for the market, 
unless for immediate use. 

A lesson which I have learned by costly experi- 
ence is, that the crop should be pulled just as soon 
as the bulbs have reached maturity. 

*'How am I to know, when the onions are fit 
for pulling?" 

The tops fall over at maturity and begin to waste 
away, the substance being gradually absorbed by the 
bulbs. So, when the majority of the tops are dying 
down, your time has come. Don't wait any longer, 
especially if it is getting pretty well along in the season. 

Some of the tops may yet be green and standing 
up like soldiers, but it matters not. Pull the crop and 
leave on the ground. The bulbs will absorb the sub- 
. stance of the tops, and the latter dry away. 



HARVESTING THE CROP 



39 



Dry weather is very desirable as long as onions 
lie on the ground to cure. If rain comes, it is well 
to rake them over carefully with a lawn rake or 
wooden rake with dull teeth. 

*'How long should the onions be left on the ground 
to cure?" 

It may take a week or more of dry weather. At 
any rate the best thing that can be done is to gather 
the crop, even if only partially cured, and put it under 




Fig 34 — ONION CURING SHED 



shelter — in open sheds, lofts, on the barn floor — any- 
where where dry and airy, amd where the onions can 
be spread thinly on a dry floor. 

If necessary, work them over, which may be most 
conveniently done by means of a wooden scoop or 
shovel. Of course, the afternoon of a dry day is the 
best time for gathering and hauling the onions, for 
they should be perfectly dry on the outside, and no 
dew or rain on them when put under shelter. In such 
places they may be left until perfectly cured, i e, 
until the tops have almost entirely dried away. - 

A shed suitable for the purpose of storing onions is 
shown in Fig 34. The dimensions for such a shed 



40 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

may, of course, be varied to suit the needs of the 
grower. All the bins are^made of slats, with spaces 
between for free circulation of air. In rainy weather 
the sides may be covered with canvas or adjustable 
boards. 

Of course, the spaces between the bins should be 
large enough for convenience in manipulation. When 
the onions are well cured, and gathered when perfectly 
dry, there is, however, very little risk in storing them 
in a layer several feet thick on a barn floor or loft. 




Fig 35 — AN ONION CURING CRIB 

where thoroughly protected from moisture. Handle 
and sort them over for market as convenient, and 
certainly before there is danger of their freezing. 

Mr Henry Price, an extensive grower, has fur- 
nished me description and plan of an onion curing 
crib built by him recently. He says it is in reality 
only a double corn crib. It is eighteen feet wide and 
eighty long, with a ten-foot driveway in the center 
the whole length. This leaves the width of crib on 
each side four feet ; its hight eight feet. The building 
is lathed all around, inside and outside, similar to a 
corn crib, as shown in Fig 35. Of course, it can be 
put up to suit the notions of the persons building it, 



STORING THE CROP 4^ 

and quite cheaply, if desired. Ordinary rough posts, 
cut in the woods, set into the ground three or four 
feet deep, may serve as a framework. I think I 
would divide the storage rooms on each side into 
shelves, making at least four of them, each two feet 
deep. The onions can then be stored twelve to eighteen 
inches deep, leaving space enough for free airing and 
drying between the layers. The loft may also be used 
for curing onions, or for storing corn and for other 
purposes. 

If we could depend on dry weather right along, 
we might easily dispense with a curing shed, lofts, 
etc, as the bulbs will cure very well outdoors. In 
a dry spell we can even leave the crop unharvested 
for some time after it is ready for pulling. But this 
is not a safe way. Many onions are lost, or much 
deteriorated in value, by being left unharvested 
too long. 

Any ordinary corn crib, or a dry loft in the barn, 
may be utilized for a place to store onions during 
late summer and fall. Of course we don't expect to 
winter them in any place where exposed to repeated 
freezing and thawing Gibraltars are not a good \ 
keeper. Prizetakers when well matured and cured can 
easily be kept until spring, and in some cases it may^ 
be very profitable to do so. 

J. G. Rawdey of IMichigan gives in American 
Agriculturist the following description of his newly 
erected onion storage house. (See Fig 36.) 

"The storage house shown here is located on the 
south side of a hill and faces south and east. It is 
forty feet long by twenty-four wide, and has a stone 
basement. The stone walls on either side are seven 
and one-half feet high and two feet thick; wall at 
west is twelve feet high, the one at the east end eight 
feet. There are two stories above the basement. The 



STORING THE CROP 43 

floors are formed of boards three and one-half inches 
wide by one and one-fourth inches thick, with a half- 
inch space between boards. The roof is made of 
matched lumber, well put together, covered with several 
thicknesses of building paper and shingled. The inte- 
rior of the building is lathed and plastered and the 
onions will stand zero weather without freezing. 

''On the ground floor there is an alley into which 
a wagon may be backed for convenience in loading. 
The building is provided with a return steam heater, 
so that it may be warmed in coldest weather. There 
is also a forcing window on the south side, next to the 
east end. The cost of storage house, steam heater 
and looo crates for onions was $1000. 

"When well cured I store my onions with tops on, 
and they keep just as good as hay that is well cured. 
They are not topped until cold. For convenience in 
putting in the crop, there is a track on the west end 
of buiiding running from the ground to top floor. The 
onions are carried up in a small car and dumped into 
the bins below." 

An additional word of warning will be in place. 
Never leave onions, no matter how well cured they 
may appear, in large heaps or in boxes, crates or 
barrels longer than a few days at most before you 
pick them over and remove the dead tops, roots and 
other rubbish. When the onions are once thoroughly 
cleaned and perfectly dry, they will keep well if stored 
in slatted crates, or ventilated barrels, etc, otherwise 
they will sweat, gather moisture, and begin to grow 
again, or possibly become infected with rot. Neither 
is it safe to store even clean and supposedly dry onions 
in tight barrels or boxes for any length of time. 



CHAPTER VI 
The Fravant Bulb on Sale 



".s' 



Now after harvest we will take an inventory of 
the stock that we have in our possession ready for 
turning into cash : 

What do we have ? 

First, a lot of Gibraltar onions — mamnioth bulbs 
weighing from three-fourths to two pounds apiece, 
or fully up to the size of the imported Spanish onions 
found in our stores ; a little lighter in color, but if 
grown on sandy soil and well cured, just as perfect 
and as handsome, and undoubtedly even milder in 
flavor and finer grained than the imported, and less 
subject to the rot which spoils a large percentage of 
the imported bulbs, sometimes even before they come 
into the hands of the groceryman. I will not denv, 
however, that the Gibraltar is subject to the attacks 
of a black fungus which apparently comes from the 
outside, causing at first a discoloration on one side, 
and finally ending in a softening of the tissues. This 
rot may become a serious matter if we try to keep the 
bulbs for any length of time, and I usually, in such 
case, lose several per cent of my stock from this cause. 
It is for this reason that I urgently advise growers 
of Gibraltar onions to put the crop on the market as 
early as possible after the bulbs are harvested. 

While I, under my conditions, find it advisable to 
clean up the Gibraltar crop by November or December, 
I have reason to believe perfectly sound and well cured 
bulbs of this variety may be kept much longer in good 
condition if stored in a cool and perfectly dry place. 



SELLING THE CROP 



45 



I find the demand for them, however, more brisk 
earher in the season. 




Fig 37 — A BUNCH OF PRIZETAKER ONIONS 



The Prizetaker onion is a much better keeper. 
I want a portion of my onions to be of this sort, for 
holdino^ until the increased demand later in the winter 
or toward spring. It is then, usually, when our 



46 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

grocers ask five or more cents a pound for the imported 
Spanish bulb. I can see no reason why we cannot 
meet the demand for a sweet onion at this time, or 
at any other, with our domestic bulbs, which are at 
least as good in every way as, and possibly better in 
some respects than, the foreign importation. If it is 
only a foolish notion that got into the handlers oi- 
consumers of sweet onions that makes them consider 
the imported Spanish article superior to our own 
production, it only remains for us to teach them better 
things and the truth in the matter. 

The stores in my own vicinity sell very few im- 
ported Spanish bulbs after I begin to supply home 
grown Gibraltars and Prizetakers to them and to 
consumers. Whoever once buys and tries our own, 
becomes at once a convert to the principle of patron- 
izing the home trade, not for sentimental or patriotic 
reasons, but for the sake of the better product and the 
better bargain, and for the recognized superiority of 
the home-grown bulbs. People who have proper onion 
storage facilities will find no difficulty in keeping the 
Prizetaker sound and perfect until spring, and in find- 
ing quick sale for it at a good price. A few fine spec- 
imens for home use may be kept for a long period in 
perfect condition by being tied and hung up in a 
frost-proof garret, as shown in Fig 37. 

Years ago I hit upon the plan of crating up the 
choicest bulbs in the "same way as the imported article, 
thus competing with the foreign product in our city 
and town markets. This is now proving quite a profit- 
able method of marketing the bulbs of the crop. 
The crate shown in Fig 38 is similar to the one in 
which the imported Spanish onions are put up. End 
and middle pieces are seven inches wide and nineteen 
and one-half inches long. The slats which form the 
sides, as shown, are nineteen and one-half inches long 



SELLING THE CROP 



47 



and two inches wide, and there are sixteen of them 
required for each crate. The crates will cost about 
ten to twelve cents apiece. Possibly, by substituting 
split stuff, such as the orange growers use for their 




Pig 38 — PRIZETAKER ONIONS CRATED FOR MARKET 



orange boxes, instead of sawed slats, the cost per piece 
could be reduced to below ten cents. 

I often put bulbs in these crates that I would not 
dare to ship in barrels. Sometimes we have large 
fine bulbs that are imperfectly capped over, and there- 
fore not fit for long keeping. It would not be safe or 
good policy to put them up in bulk, and under ordinary ^ 



48 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

circumstances they would represent just so much waste, 
or at best, we might be able to sell them as "seconds ' 
for a reduced price to somebody who would want 
them for immediate culinary use. Such bulbs will 
often answer very well for mixing with others in the 
fancy crates, as they are usually sold and used without 
much delay, and as dealers who' handle imported 
Spanish onions are used to just that kind of imperfect 
bulbs, and to their deterioration and decay when kept 
for some little time. 

To give an idea of the size of these crated Prize- 
takers, will state that the number of specimens con- 
tained in each crate ranged from fifty to sixty, only in 
rare cases reaching the latter figure. The large speci- 
mens on the table in front of the crate weighed about 
one and one-fourth pounds apiece. A foot rule ap- 
pears lying across the two at the right to show their 
diameter. 

In the following I give the experience of my 
friend, J. S. Woodward, of Lockport, who has grown 
Prizetakers quite extensively for a number of years. 
The soil on which they were planted was a rich, 
sandy muck, and his crops were immense. Like me, 
he had crates made in imitation of the imported 
Spanish onion packages, and of the dimensions already 
given. A crate of this kind holds something less than 
a bushel of onions, between three and four pecks, or 
nearly fifty pounds (the weight of a bushel of onions 
in this state usually being taken as fifty-six pounds). 
Mr Woodward would send a sample crate of Prize- 
takers to some reliable commission house each in 
Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, New York, etc, and 
solicit orders for a carload. Thus he has shipped his 
crops, in carload lots, to dealers offering him best 
prices, and he has had no trouble in disposing of his 
large bulbs in this way, receiving for them from 



SELLING THE CROP 49 

seventy-five cents to one dollar and thirty-five cents 
per crate, or an average of close to $ioo, and thus 
making the business pay him quite well. 

There are chances everywhere of selling at least 
a portion of the crop directly from the field. My 
emphatic advice is to sell all that can be sold at a 
fair price. Get rid of the onions, and pocket the 
money. With the crops of Gibraltars and Prizetakers 
that I usually raise, I can make more money from 
them selling at sixty cents a bushel, than I possibly 
could by growing Danvers, Yellow Globe or any other 
on the old plan, selling them at one dollar a bushel. 
It is surely no small job to take care of a crop such 
as can be grown on a single acre. It's a big thing. 
Never lose sight of that fact. 

I imagine some people will wish to know how 
onions can be most successfully wintered over. Under 
some circumstances it may pay well to store and hold 
them for spring sales. An onion storage house found 
on the grounds of a grower in Michigan has already 
been described in a preceding chapter. There is a 
party over in Canada who grows quite a number of 
acres of onions every year, and he invariably holds 
them until spring, and makes money by so doing. 
Of course, I was anxious to learn how he winters such 
big crops, and made inquiry. He wrote me as follows : 

"For the purpose of keeping onions during the 
winter we have erected two large rooms in the end of 
our barn, above ground. These rooms are almost 
frost-proof in the coldest weather ; are provided with 
double windows at each end, and double doors at 
entrance from driveway on barn floor. All the walls 
have a dead air space. Building paper is tacked on 
in the inside of each boarding that forms the hollow 
space. 



50 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

"Onions are not put into these rooms in bulk, but 
in thousands of slatted bushel boxes. The windows 
are kept constantly open, except in very cold weather. 
The idea is to put in dry, well cured stock, and place 
it in such a way that it may always be airing at 
suitable times, and yet be secure against low degrees 
of temperature." 

Be sure to bear in mind the following general 
hints : Never attempt to keep onions that are not 
capped over perfectly, and not entirely dormant, both 
at top and root part. If they are thus perfect, it 
will not be a hard task to keep them over winter, 
provided you have a dry, cool and airy room, where 
you can keep them from freezing. Never store them 
in a large bulk together. Onions will also keep quite 
well when frozen. Store on the floor of some out- 
building, say fifteen inches deep, and as far away 
from the wall. When frozen cover with a two-foot 
laver of hav ; but do not handle them. 



CHAPTER VII 

Airs Well That Ends Well 

ADVANTAGES AND PROFITS OF THE NEW WAY 

That the new method of onion growing- gives us 
a great increase of crop, besides many other advantages 
over the old way, is no longer a matter of doubt. The 
great question now is, whether the new way is also- 
the more profitable one, and if so, how profitable. - 

We have already seen that the transplanting 
method calls for one and a half to two pounds of 
seed per acre, while ordinarily not less than six pounds 
are sown. On the other hand, we have the additional 
labor of growing plants in frames, which is more 
than an offset for the saving of seed. The new 
way requires the considerable and tedious labor of 
transplanting, an operation which will cost at least 
twenty-five dollars per acre. On the other hand, we 
save so much hand labor in thinning and weeding 
that one might well be considered an offset for 
the other. 

On the whole, we have come to the conclusion 
that the expenses of the crop, up to the time of har- 
vesting, are very near the same, whether we follow 
the new or the old method. The chief advantages of 
the new onion culture, therefore, are clear gain. 
Among them we have : 

I. Earlier ripening of the crop. With six weeks 
to start in sowing, the crop will come to maturity 
several weeks earlier than it would otherwise. This 
gives a chance for marketing the earlier sorts much in 



52 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

advance of competitors who' adhere to the old onion 
culture, as also in clearing the ground for a succeed- 
ing crop, such as celery, turnips, fall spinach, etc, 
while the season is made considerably longer for 
the late Prizetaker, which otherwise has hardly time 
at the extreme North to come to a full development. 

2. A decided improvement of the bulbs in respect 
to shape and uniformity. 

3. Quicker sale and better price, in consequence 
of the finer appearance of the bulbs. 

4. A greatly increased yield, to the extent of 
doubling that obtained by the ordinary method. 

5. The elimination of all uncertainties from the 
business. Even failure would mean what people now 
call a ''big crop." Nothing short of hail and flood 
could prevent a good profit in this new onion culture, 
if managed with ordinary intelligence and care. 

It requires particularly suitable or favorable con- 
ditions, and a considerable amount of skill, to produce 
a big crop of onions by the older method. Anybody of 
good common sense, even if of little practical expe- 
rience or unusual skill, who has a fairly good patch of 
ground, can, if he wants to, grow a crop of Gibraltars 
or Prizetakers of which he may be proud. 

The following is a somewhat rough estimate of 
the expenses and receipts on the basis of my own 
experience and surrounding conditions. Supposing 
that only 1000 bushels are grown per acre, we then 
have the following : 

EXPENSES OF CROP PER ACRE 

Raising the plants $20.00 

Rent of land, one acre 5.00 

Manure 45-00 

Superphosphate, 400 pounds 2.40 

Muriate of potash, 250 pounds 5.60 



ADVANTAGES AND PROFITS 53 

Nitrate of soda, 200 pounds $4-5o 

Applying manure, etc 16.00 

Plowing and harrowing 4.00 

Marking 2.00 

Seed 3-50 

Transplanting 27.00 

Cultivation and weeding 20.00 

Pulling crop 5-00 

Gathering, hauling, crating 40.00 

Crates, etc 100.00 

Total $300.00 

RECEIPTS 

By 1000 bushels of onions at 75 cents $750.00 

Less expenses as above 300.00 

Net profit .- $450.00 

This seems to me a perfectly safe estimate. In 
some cases the grower may realize more than seventy- 
five cents per bushel, and his profits will then be cor- 
respondingly increased. In other cases he may have 
to accept even a smaller price than given in this esti- 
mate. But even if these fine bulbs should not bring 
more than fifty cents a bushel, or $500 for the whole 
crop, the profits will still be $200, after all expenses, 
every bit of labor included, have been paid. 

In a good onion season the crop should not be less 
than 1000 bushels per acre, if properly managed. If 
it exceeds this amount (and 1500 bushels per acre 
is an easy possibility), this would add to the expense 
in harvesting and marketing, and increase the total 
expenses of the crop, but it would also increase the net 
profits accordingly. 



54 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

What other crop could be expected to give similar 
results and with greater certainty? I am unable to 
name a single one among ordinary farm or market 
garden crops that holds out greater promises of satis- 
factory results. 

If the outcome comes near to meet the estimates 
here given, the grower, after all his pains and expend- 
iture in the venture, may well say, "All is well that 
ends zvell." 



CHAPTER VIII 

The Old Onion Culture 

"Our father's way 
Was the good old way, 
Brought home and land, 
And cash to hand 
We'll not despise the good old way." 

Many of the details of onion growing told in the 
preceding pages apply both to the old system and 
the new. Some additional information concerning 
what some yotmg growers may consider "the good 
old way," will undoubtedly be acceptable to many 
readers. 

No matter under what system the crop is to be 
grown, I would select manure and prepare the land 
as advised in the second chapter. Low lands of 
mucky character are used in many localities with 
excellent results. Yellow Globe Danvers and Early 
Red are well suited for such soils. The crops are 
often very large, but the individual bulbs hardly as 
firm as when grown on uplands. 

Make the seed bed perfectly smooth with Meeker 
harrow or steel rake. It is not necessary to mark out 
the ground. For business operations, and by this I 
mean for purposes more extensive than the production 
of a mere home or family supply, a good seed drill is 
indispensable. At the present time, the leading garden 
drills are the Planet Jr and Iron Age. Fig 39 shows 
the latter in operation. The one advantage of this 
and similarly constructed drills is that you can keep 



THE OLD ONION CULTURE 57 

watch of the seed in the hopper, and also note how it is 
deposited. Before sowing seed, it may be advisable to 
test the machine, and its delivery of the seed. Place a 
bed sheet or a row of sheets of paper on a barn floor ; 
put some seed into the drill, set the drill as you think 
it should be and sow along upon the sheet or papers. 
Of course you want seeds deposited perhaps twice as 
thickly in the row as you will want the plants to 
stand. Some seeds will not grow, or the young plants 
may die. It will be better to be compelled to thin the 
plants a little than to have large spaces in the rows 
without plants. Thinning is easier than filling in with 
plants, although both operations are only too often 
neglected to the great injury of the crop or yield. 

When sowing seed with the drill, I begin by 
stretching a garden line along one side of the patch, 
a few inches from where I want the first row. This 
serves as a guide, and I take great pains to have this 
row and all the following ones perfectly straight. 
Sow as early in the spring as soil and season will 
permit. 

The opening marked for onion seed in the Planet 
Jr drill lets the seed run out pretty freely, perhaps at 
the rate of eight pounds to the acre, and when the soil 
is in first rate order, and the seed fresh and good, as 
this always should be, I usually let the seed run 
through the next smaller opening, which sows five or 
six pounds per acre. 

The Iron Age drill, when the indicator is set to 
point to the onion mark, sows from five to seven 
pounds of onion seed per acre. I now make the rows 
fourteen inches apart, and when sure of the freshness 
of the seed, try to sow about five pounds to the acre. 
Consequently I usually set the indicator just a trifle 
short of the onion mark, thus making the discharge 
opening a little bit smaller. The small roller attached 



58 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

to the seed drill firms the soil sufficiently to insure 
prompt germination of the seed. 

The weeds have to be watched much more closely 
than in the new onion culture. The roller marks in- 
dicate where the rows are, and the wheel-hoe may be 
set agoing, carefully, at first, even before many of the 
plants have broken ground. Then keep it agoing. 
X Next comes hand weeding, which should be begun 
as soon as weeds can be seen. Scrape the soil away 
from the rows. Never draw it up toward them. 
Repeat as often as needed, at the second or third weed- 
ing also pull up the plants that are in excess of a fair 
stand. This I find much the better way. It makes 
the crop more uniform, and therefore more valuable 
and more satisfactory. Ordinary varieties should in 
no case average more than one plant to the inch, where 
they stand most crowded, and they should have more 
space on very rich soil than on one not sufficiently 
enriched. The after-treatment of crop, harvesting, etc, 
is exactly the same as described for the new onion 
culture. 

For many years the Yellow Globe Danvers has 
stood at the head of onion varieties to be grown for 
market and for general purposes, in the old way. In 
many instances I now find it outranked by the South- 
port Yellow Globe. Both are excellent sorts, however, 
unequaled, in fact, by any other. Prizetaker has given 
almost as good crops, in some instances, although 
later, when grown directly from seed, as when grown 
by the new transplanting system. The Australian 
Brown is liked by some growers for its earliness, 
reliability for bottoming, and unexcelled keeping 
quality. The claim is made for it that it can be kept 
in good condition, sound and without sprouting, for 
a whole year, that is, until bulbs of the succeeding 
crop are fully matured. I ha-ve not been shiningly 



THE OLD ONION CULTURE 



59 



successful in my attempts to grow this onion, either 
from seed direct or by transplanting, for which I 
blame my lack of skill and, possibly, of opportunity. 

I have already stated my opinion of red onions. 
I do not want them. My markets almost reject them. 




Pig 40 — COMPARATIVE SIZE OF ROUND ONIONS 

They are not particularly popular except for some 
special purposes in special localities. As a standard 
red market variety, Red Wethersfield has always stood 
at the head. It is immensely productive and a good 
keeper. 

Extra Early Red is a very early deep red onion 



6o 



THE NEW ONION CULTURE 



of medium size. I believe we have both a flat and a 
round strain of it. It is recommended especially for 
the extreme North and Northwest^ and for cold and 
mucky soil. 

Southport Red Globe is the exact counterpart of 
Southport Yellow Globe, only of a rich deep red color, 




Fig 41 — COMPARATIVE SIZE OF FLAT ONIONS 



and, like the other, as handsome an onion as could 
be imagined. 

Of the white sorts, I only recognize one, namely, 
the Southport White Globe, as a variety worthy of 
consideration for general market purposes. It is, like 
its yellow and red counterparts, a strikingly handsome 
onion and a fairly good keeper; but it does not find 
favor in our markets equal with the yellow onions. 

The form and comparative size of round and flat 
onions are shown in Fig 40 and Fig 41. 



THE OLD ONION CULTURE 6l 

Much of the ultimate outcome of every attempt 
to grow a paying crop of onions depends on the quality 
and freshness of the seed. Sometimes two-year-old 
seed, v»^hen well kept, does very well. I have fre- 
quently had it germinate promptly, and grow as 
vigorously as fresh seed. In other cases it absolutely 
refused to grow. So I always prefer to use strictly 
fresh onion seed. If you will do as I do, namely, buy 
your onion seed early, of a reliable seedsman, and test 
it before you plant it, so that, should it fail to ger- 
minate as it ought, you may be able to secure a fresh 
supply before planting time, you will be reasonably 
safe from loss and disappointment on account of 
poor seed. 

ONIONS FOR PICKLING 

This branch of the business can often be made 
to pay well. At one time, not long ago, I was quite 
enthusiastic over the possibilities of the pickling 
onion as a money crop. But not having the right kind 
of soil, which should be very clean and very sandy 
(no other will do), I finally gave it up beyond the 
extent of home production. There is usually a very 
good demand, almost everywhere, for really fine bulbs 
for pickling purposes, especially during August and 
September. The sight of a well graded lot of Barletta 
(also sent out as White Queen) onions will delight 
and tempt any housewife. Neither will she be apt 
to find fault with the price if you ask her ten or twelve 
cents a quart for them. At wholesale they have 
recently been bringing about two dollars or two dollars 
and a half per bushel. On my heavier loam I find it 
much easier to raise two dollars by setting out 250 
or 300 Gibraltar or Prizetaker seedlings than by sow- 
ing an eighth or a quarter pound of Barletta seed. But 



62 



THE NEW ONION CULTURE 



you can try the Barletta if you have the right kind of 
soil for it, especially a clean, clear sand. 

The general management of the pickling crop is 
the same as for market in the old way, only that 
you must sow more seed, say from forty to fifty pounds 
to the acre, and leave every plant to grow. The rows 
may be put nearer together than for large onions. 
Ten inches apart is sufficient, unless considerations for 
convenience in cultivation induce you to put them 




Fig 42 — HOMEMADE PICKLING ONION SIEVE 



twelve inches apart. The seed, of course, is sown 
with the garden drill. We have to be very careful 
in this operation so as to use the proper amount of 
seed, and yet prevent waste. Sometimes I sow only 
half the amount of seed at a time, and go twice in the 
same row, thus spreading the seed over a space of 
nearly two inches for each row. 

When ripe enough for gathering, here usually 
early in August, the Barlettas need prompt attention. 
Just as soon as the most of the tops have fallen over, 
the onions are pulled or taken up with a garden trowel, 



THE OLD ONION CULTURE 



63 



and thrown into a sieve having about four meshes to 
the inch, so that the dirt and sand may be sifted out ; or 
they may simply be left on the ground for a day or 
two to cure, provided the weather remains dry. Then 
gather them up, preferably on sieves such as used for 
drying raspberries and other fruit, and store under 
shelter where they have a good chance to dry out 
thoroughly. Afterward they can be cleaned and 
sorted. I use a sieve for cleaning pickling onions and 




Fig 43 — ASSORTED BARLETTA ONIONS 



onion sets. This is a simple homemade affair, shown 
in Fig 42. The screen used has four meshes to the 
inch. The mechanical genius of the family will have 
little difficulty to construct a sieve or drum like mine 
or similar to it. Put a moderate quantity of the little 
onions into this drum, let them get quite dry, and then 
turn until they are clean. They may then be sorted, 
which is easily done, by running through a coarse 
meshed sieve (meshes to be about three-fourths inch), 
and are then ready for use or sale. The usual sizes into 
which they are assorted are shown in Fig 43. 

Housewives often complain of the trouble they 
have in cleaning small pickling onions. This is simply 



64 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

because they do not know how to do the job properly. 
Put the bulbs — tops, roots and all — in weak brine for 
a day or so. Then there will be neither hard work nor 
the shedding of tears over it. 

GROWING ONION SETS 

For growing sets the following hints will suffice: 
Select Silverskin for white, Early Red for red, and 
Yellow Dutch (or perhaps Yellow Danvers) for 
yellow, and sow se^d at the rate of forty to sixty 
pounds to the acre. Handle in somewhat the same 
fashion as the pickling onions. All that will not pass 
through a sieve with three-fourths-inch meshes are 
too large for sets, and should go among the larger 
pickling onions. 

We have also found that the set grown from 
Prizetaker seed will keep as well as any other onion 
set known to us, and that it will make a remarkably 
fine and sweet early green or bunching onion. For 
wintering any onion sets, you must, of course, have a 
room where you can keep them cool and dry, either 
just above the freezing point, or if a little below freez- 
ing, constantly low enough that they will not thaw 
out until near planting time. 

For green onions the sets are planted, in a mild 
climate during the fall, here where the winters are 
severe, in early spring,* in rows a foot apart, in furrows 
an inch or two deep, and an inch or two apart in 
the row. 

The earliest green or bunching onion is the 
Egyptian Winter or Perennial Tree onion (Fig 44). 
This is hardy as an oak, and in good soil will spread 
like a weed, and yield immense quantities of a fairly 
good green onion, especially if planted rather deep, 
sav three inches, so that the lower end of the stalk 



BUNCHING ONiaNS 



65 



or bulb becomes nicely blanched. This is propagated 
from top sets, the latter to be planted as soon as they 
are mature, which is some time in August, this in a 
spot where they can be left for years, to yield an 
annually increased amount of green stalks for 
bunching. 

Another plan of growing bunching onions has 
recently found consideration. This is to sow seed 
of the hardy Barletta, and possibly White Portugal 




Fig 44 — EGYPTIAN OR PERENNIAL TREE ONION 



or Silverskin, in open ground during August, in same 
way as for ordinary onions, only using more seed, and 
leaving the onions out over winter, perhaps slightly 
protected by a thin layer of coarse litter, to make 
green bunching onions in early spring. I have had 
fairly good success in first trials. 




Fig 45 — ONION FIELD IN BLOOM 




bo 









Vi^^^^P-^ 




68 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

GROWING ONION SEED 

One of my neighbors who grows the Prizetaker 
from sets for an early green onion, also grows not 
only his own sets, but the seed which he sows for sets. 
Any grower can do the same thing if he wishes. A 
few additional hints may not come amiss. 

First grow the large onions in same way as you 
would grow them for market from seed sown in open 
ground. Select perfectly sound, well-matured bulbs 
of the shape and color desired in your ideal onion, 
and store them in a dry, cool place where safe from 
freezing, or at least from alternate freezing and thaw- 
ing. In early spring select moderately rich soil, and 
apply no more than a moderate dressing of compost 
or chemical fertilizers. Fit this soil thoroughly for 
planting, by plowing and harrowing, and then set 
the onions in furrows, six inches deep and four to six 
inches apart. The furrows may be made three or three 
and a half feet apart. The seed is ripe when the seed 
pods and the upper end of the seed stalk turn yellow, 
and part of the pods burst open. Then cut the heads, 
gathering them in any convenient receptacle to carry 
to a dry loft where they are to be spread out thinly. 
When thoroughly dry, they are to be thrashed and 
cleaned by passing through a fanning mill. The final 
cleaning is given by washing. The heavy plump seeds 
sink to the bottom, when placed in a tub of water. 
The chaff and light seeds float and are gently poured 
off. Place in a muslin bag to drain off the water, then 
spread out thinly in a v/arm dry place to dry. 

Onion seed, for commercial purposes, is now 
raised in California more extensively than in any 
other part of the world, as the climatic conditions are 
more favorable there than elsewhere. The long, dry 
summers of California insure a perfect ripening of 



GROWING ONION SEED 69 

the crop, and there is lio danger of rain spoihng the 
seed. The moisture necessary for the roots the grower 
can > supply from his irrigation canals whenever re- 
quired, thus practically making the climate to suit 
himself. Most of the work can be done outdoors 
which greatly facilitates the handling of the crop. 
There is another factor which comes to the aid of the 
California seed grower, and this is the availability of 
cheap temporary labor. When work is pressing hvi 
can hire any number of Chinamen for a day or week 
until his crop is in safety. Fig 45 gives an idea of 
the large scale at which this industry is carried on, 
showing a partial view of a thirty-seven-acre field of 
onions for seed, at Santa Clara, the plants just coming 
into bloom. Fig 46 presents a section of a field of 
Prizetaker onions ready for harvesting. 



CHAPTER IX 

Soils and Manures for Onions 

On the subject of the preparation of the soil for 
onions, by previous cropping, the Farmers' Bulletin 
No 39 says : 

''Soils which are stiff and heavy, which contain 
too much sand, which abound in pernicious weeds, or 
are deficient in fertility, may be greatly improved by 
the cultivation of one or more crops previous to plant- 
ing onions. A favorite practice in some sections is to 
sow clover, and after the first crop is cut for hay, the 
second growth is allowed to rot on the field and with a 
heavy dressing of stable manure is plowed under in 
the fall. The following spring the ground is planted 
in potatoes and the next year onions are grown. Such 
a course of treatment leaves the soil in excellent con- 
dition. The land is improved by the application of 
manure and the decomposition of the clover roots and 
tops, while the nitrogen supply is increased both by 
means of the clover, which gathers this element from 
the atmosphere, and by the manure. The effect of 
such treatment is to enrich 'the soil, make it loose and 
friable, and free it from many weed seeds. Crimson 
clover could be used to advantage in states where this 
legume thrives, since, when plowed under, it produces 
the same effect as red clover. 

''Cowpeas are used as a substitute for clover in 
the South. The peas may be sown in July or August, 
after a crop of early potatoes has been removed. 
The dead tops are plowed under later in the fall, with 
a liberal dressing of barnyard manure. If either cow- 
peas or clover is used, and followed the next year by 



SOILS AND MANURES 7^ 

some hoed crop which does not impoverish the soil to 
any considerable extent, the land is put in the best 
condition for raising onions. Carrots are said to be 
the most desirable crop to precede onions. Corn and 
potatoes, however, are not objectionable. Of course, 
more plant food should be applied than these crops 
remove, so that the soil will be constantly improved." 
All of this I heartily endorse. The subject of 
selection and application of manures is treated as 
follows : 

"The onion requires a liberal amount of plant 
food in the most available form. The quantity and 
quality of manures which would make potatoes, cab- 
bages, tomatoes, or many other garden crops profitable 
will not give even a fair compensation in onion culture, 
unless favored by soils highly fertile in their natural 
state. Beginners fail more frequently perhaps from 
lack of appreciation of this fact than from any other 
cause. The most expensive item in onion culture is 
labor. A prominent grower estimates that it costs 
$100 per acre to start the seedlings, prepare the soil, 
transplant, cultivate, weed, and pull the crop when 
the new onion culture is adopted. The cost of labor 
is just as great for a crop of 500 bushels as for 1000. 
Hence it is judicious for the onion grower to be liberal 
in the use of fertilizers. If the supply of fertilizer is 
limited it will pay better to manure one acre thoroughly 
than two sparingly. 

''Barnyard manure is indispensable in the pro- 
duction of superior bulbs unless the soil naturally 
contains a large amount of humus. Muck soils may 
be treated with concentrated commercial fertilizers 
alone, but nothing can be entirely substituted for 
barnyard manure on other soils with as satisfactory 
results. Hen manure is very highly esteemed by onion 
growers because of its high percentage of fertilizing 



"J^ THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

constituents. Next to this manure, that from the 
pigsty is considered most valuable, although rotten 
barnyard manure of any kind gives good results. It 
is customary to deposit the manure in large piles where 
it can undergo fermentation, or to compost it with 
other materials. From forty to seventy-five loads per 
acre should be applied if a large yield is expected. 
It should be spread evenly over the surface just before 
plowing in the fall or early spring, a manure spreader 
being valuable for this purpose. 

*'Hen manure will produce the best results when 
applied as a top-dressing before planting. Poultry 
droppings should be dried and pulverized before broad- 
casting. Specially prepared composts should also be 
spread after plowing and thoroughly mixed with the 
surface soil by harrowing. A common practice near 
large cities is to secure night soil and compost it with 
barnyard manure, muck or loam. This makes a val- 
uable top-dressing. Care should be exercised that all 
the manures used are free from weed seeds. 

'*We may learn something on the question of 
fertilizing by studying the composition of the onion. 
An analysis made by the Connecticut experiment 
station of White Globe onions showed that 2000 pounds 
of mature bulbs contain 2.70 pounds of nitrogen, 0.92 
pound of phosphoric acid, and 2.09 pounds of potash. 
The average legal weight per bushel in different parts 
of the Union is about fifty-six pounds. A yield of 
800 bushels per acre is frequently reported. A crop 
of this size (44,800 pounds), therefore, would remove 
from an acre of soil 60.48 pounds of nitrogen, 20.61 
I)ounds of phosphoric acid, and 46.82 pounds of potash. 

"This shows that the onion removes the three 
essential fertilizing constituents from the soil in large 
quantities, and these must be supplied to the soil if it 
does not already contain them. Soils which have been 



SOILS AND MANURES 73 

freely cropped with clover, cowpeas, or other legumi- 
nous plants are not likely to be deficient in nitrogen, 
although light dressings of the quick-acting nitrate 
of soda may often be profitable on such soils. Potash 
and phosphoric acid, however, must usually be applied 
more liberally. Sometimes one and sometimes the 
other of the three principal fertilizing constituents — 
nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash — is deficient in 
the soil. It is important for each grower to study the 
special requirements of his soil. A few experiments 
with concentrated fertilizers will settle many doubtful 
points. It is impossible to supply the needed fertili- 
zers in the proper proportions without first acquiring 
a fair knowledge of the fertilizing constituents already 
in the soil. 

"Of the nitrogenous commercial fertilizers, nitrate 
of =oda is the most largely used. It contains about 
fifteen per cent of nitrogen. This salt is readily 
soluble and exceedingly quick in its action. It should 
never be applied in the fall or winter, because a large 
amount o^ the nitrogen would be washed out of the 
soil before the growing crop required it. From 200 
to 400 pounds applied in four equal dressings is suffi- 
cient in most cases. The first application should be 
made just before seeding or planting and mixed with 
the surface soil by harrowing. The other dressings 
may be given at intervals during the growing season, 
carefully broadcasting the salt. Ammonium sulphate, 
dried blood and wool refuse, which are also nitroge- 
nous fertilizers, are occasionally substituted for sodium 
nitrate, and soot is sometimes used with advantage. 

*'To supply the potash, wood ashes are frequently 
employed. They have the additional advantage of 
improving the mechanical condition of the soil, making 
it loose and friable. Either leached or unleached ashes 
may be used with satisfactory results, the latter being 



74 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

more valuable on account of their larger content of 
potash — five to ten per cent. From six to eight tons 
of unleached or ten to fourteen of leached ashes is a 
liberal supply. Ashes should be drilled or harrowed 
in after plowing. If ashes are not available, or if the 
expense of transportation is excessive, the grower will 
find potash salts, such as kainit and muriate of potash, 
valuable fertilizers. They are applied in the fall, 
winter or early spring. The soil will retain the potash 
until the plants require it, so that the loss by drainage 
is exceedingly small. Kainit contains thirteen to 
fourteen per cent of potash, and the muriate about 
fifty per cent. About 200 to 300 pounds per acre of 
the muriate, or 800 to 1000 pounds of kainit, is a suf- 
ficient application. They should be sown broadcast 
after plowing, and harrowed in or distributed by means 
of a fertilizer drill. A few hundred pounds of bone 
meal or other phosphates will be beneficial, if phos- 
phoric acid is needed. 

"The manures applied are never completeh^ taken 
up by the growing crop. This makes it necessary to 
supply more than is actually needed. In the case of 
the potash and phosphoric acid, for which the soil has 
a strong' retentive power, the excess will remain to 
benefit succeeding crops." 

In a general way I may add that the selection 
and application of plant foods, for the onion crop as 
well as for all others, is largely a matter for the exer- 
cise of uncommonly good common sense and good 
judgment. 



CHAPTER X 



Onion Varieties 



With reference to the methods of propagation, 
onions may be divided into three classes : ( i ) Onions 
produced by division of the bulb; (2) onions produced 
from top sets or button onions, and (3) onions grown 
from black seed. The last named may be separated 
into two subdivisions, namely, American and foreign 
types. 

According to Professor Bailey's Annals of Horti- 
culture, about twenty kinds of multipliers, potato 
onions and sets were offered by American dealers 
in 1889. 

The leading variety of the first class (onions 
produced by division of the bulb) is the Potato onion 
or Multiplier, shown in Fig 47. 

This is most largely grown in southern localities. 
The yellow variety has been in cultivation for many 
years, while the white sort is of much more recent 
introduction. The bulbs are thick, compact, tender if 
eaten soon after pulling, and very mild and sweet in 
flavor. Fall planting is generally resorted to with 
this variety, the sets being placed in drills four or 
five inches' deep. As the name ''Multiplier" indicates, 
if a large bulb is planted, division occurs during the 
season of growth, resulting in the formation of from 
three to ten or more bulbs from the parent. If sets 
are planted, they will make single large onions, but not 
multiply. The plants begin active growth very early 
in the spring and may be bunched and marketed at a 
good profit,^ or may be allowed to mature. In the 



"J^i THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

milder sections of the South the Potato onion will 
grow during the entire winter. The mature bulbs 
should be stored in thin layers in a dry apartment to 
insure their keeping. This variety is rarely, if ever, 
afifected by the onion maggot. From the fact that the 
small bulbs increase in size and the large ones multi- 
ply, it is necessary to plant both sizes in order to secure 
onions for market and also maintain the stock. 

Shallots are frequently mistaken for the Potato 
onion. They differ from it in throwing up an occa- 
sional seed shoot and in the bulb always multiplying, 




Fig 47 — POTATO ONION OR MULTIPLIER 

which is not true with small Potato onions. The bulbs 
are more oblong in shape than the Potato onion. 
Shallots are small, may be kept the year round, and 
possess a mild, pleasant flavor. 

TOP ONIONS 

To this class of onions, produced from top sets, 
as shown in Fig 44, properly belongs the 

Egyptian (Winter Onion, Perennial, or Tree 
Onion) — An unusually hardy variety in the colder 
states, remaining in the ground with safety all winter. 
It starts early in the spring and may be bunched and 
marketed several weeks before any other variety. 
The quality is inferior, but the bulbs may be readily 



VARIETIES T7 

sold when better varieties are wanting. The bulblets 
or top sets of this should be planted as soon as they are 
fully matured, which is during August. This onion 
also grows from division of the bulb. If planted 
somewhat deep in rich, loose soil, the stalk blanches 
in the manner of leeks as usually grown by good 
gardeners and makes a green onion of fairly good 

qualitv. 

The common Top Set or Button onions are usually 
grown for green bunching by planting the bulblets 
in spring (at the North) in same manner as the 
ordinary" sets that were grown from the black seed 
are planted. 

Of the common or "seed" onions, about eighty 
varieties, including synonyms, are offered by Amer- 
ican seedsmen. I give a description of the leading 
ones, largely quoted from Farmers' Bulletin No 39: 

AMERICAN VARIETIES 

Danvcrs (Danvers Yellow, Round Yellow Dan- 
vers, Yellow Glol>e Danvers)— The most largely 
grown of the yellow onions, being produced in im- 
mense quantities for shipping purposes. It is very 
productive, giving much larger yields than varieties 
vdiich form "flat bulbs. Four hundred to 600 bushels 
per acre from seed sown in the field is a very common 
yield, while 800 to 1000 bushels are sometimes har- 
vested. The bulbs are very solid, large when given 
the proper attention, compact, and of excellent flavor. 
This vaiiety commands higher prices than red onions 
in most markets. 

Extra Early Red— On account of its earliness 
in maturing, this variety is valuable in many sections. 
Tlie bulbs 'are rather small, flat in shape, and good 
keepers. It is especially well adapted to cold, mucky 
soils, and is largely used in the. production of sets. 



yS THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

Silver Skin (White Portugal, Philadelphia 
White) — A variety largely used in the production 
of the white sets sold by seedsmen. The bulbs are 
handsome, medium sized^ and of excellent flavor. It 
commands higher prices than the red or yellow sorts, 
but is not so productive nor so easily wintered unless 
thoroughly cured. The smaller bulbs are popular 
for pickling. 




Fig 48 — LARGE RED WETHERSFIELD 

WethersHeld (Wethersfield Red, Large Red 
Wethersfield) — The most extensively grown red sort. 
It rivals the Yellow Danvers in many portions of the 
country. Some markets prefer it to that variety. 
The bulbs are large, growing six to eight inches 
in diameter in especially favorable localities. It is 
very productive and a good keeper. The bulbs are 
somewhat flattened in form ; in this respect being 
inferior to the Yellow Danvers. The skin is deep 



VARIETIES 79 

purplish-red, the flesh purphsh-white, rather coarse and 
of stronger flavor than that of the yeUow onions. A 
typical specimen, much reduced in size, is shown in 
Fig 48. 

M^hite Globe (Southport White Globe)— The 
perfect globe shape and smooth white skin make this 
one of the handsomest onions. It always commands 
good prices, but requires more care in cultivating, 
harvesting and storing than the red and yellow sorts. 
The flesh is fine in grain, pure white, and of superior 
flavor. The bulbs are large and yield well when given 
careful attention. This sort should be grown in every 
family garden in preference to any other large white 
American onion. 

Ycllozv Strasburg (Yellow Dutch) — A productive 
variety, the bulbs being slightly darker in color than 
Yellow Danvers ; of good size ; quite flat, with a white 
and mild flesh. Yellow Danvers is preferred to the 
Strasburg by most growers. 

Red Globe and Yellow Globe (Southport) — These 
varieties closely resemble the White Globe, except 
in color. 

Australian Brozvn — Of medium size, good qual- 
ity ; early ; somewhat flattened in shape, of brown color 
and remarkably hard and solid. It begins to form a 
bulb at an early period of growth, and quickly reaches 
maturity. For keeping qualities it is perhaps unsur- 
passed. 

Gold Seal — An early variety, rich in color, much 
like the Danvers, but perhaps larger, harder and a 
better keeper. ' 

Early Yellozv Cracker (Extra Early Cracker, 
Rhode Island Yellow Cracker) — The earliest of the 
yellow sorts ; of good quality, but should be carefully 
handled to insure its keeping qualities. 



So THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

Giant Zittau — A very large German onion of fine 
quality. Surpassed here by our standard varieties, and 
for size by Prizetaker and many of the foreign sorts. 

Prizetakcr — I am tempted to include this in the 
list of American onions, although its origin is undis- 
putably foreign. But seed of this famous onion has 
been grown in America for many years, and the onion 
now holds a secure place among our standard sorts. 
Its name is inseparably interwoven with the ''new 
onion culture." Its introducer, Mr William Henry 
Maule of Philadelphia, gives me the following data 
about its history. He says : 

"I discovered the Prizetaker in the hands. of a 
gentleman residing in the Santa Clara valley, Califor- 
nia, whom I happened to be visiting in the summer 
of 1886. I was so impressed with it that I persuaded 
him to plant all the bulbs he raised for seed, and agreed 
to take all he had. It was first offered in my 1888 
catalog, and since then has been one of my leading 
specialties. It was some years before it became gen- 
erally known, but finally, largely through the adver- 
tising which you yourself gave it, its merits became 
recognized, and to-day it is prominently listed in all 
the leading American seed catalogs." 

This variety is a favorite with all growers who 
follow the transplanting method. It gives more 
general satisfaction than any other variety in the pro- 
duction of bulbs from seed sown- under glass, the 
young plants being transferred to the open ground. 
American grown seed is greatly preferred. The 
Prizetaker is uniform and globular in form, and very 
large, some specimens weighing from four to six 
pounds having been grown in this country under 
special cultivation, while from one to three pounds 
are very common weights. It ripens well, and, if 
properly cured, may be kept through the winter, 



VARIETIES 8l 

although it is considered a poor keeper. The bulbs 
are bright yellow, with a thin skin. The flesh is 
white, fine grained, mild, with a delicate flavor. A 
bunch of typical Prizetakers is shown in Fig 37. 

Pink Prizctaker — Similar to the Yellow Prize- 
taker in every respect except color, which is light red. 

Prizewinner — A white Prizetaker. 

FOREIGN VARIETIES 

B arietta (Adriatic Barletta) — The bulbs of this 
variety are pure white, measuring from one inch to 
one and one-half inches in diameter, and about three- 
fourths of an inch in thickness. It is very early; the 
bulbs are smooth, uniform, and handsome in appear- 
ance, which makes them e-specially valuable for pick- 
ling. For this purpose no other variety is better 
adapted. The flesh possesses a mild, delicate flavor. 
To secure the best results the seed should be sown in 
loose, rich, friable soil. Seed is furnished by many 
seed houses also under the name ''New Queen," ''Early 
White Queen," "Pearl," etc. As I remember the New 
Queen from the time of its first introduction, twenty- 
five or more years ago, it seamed larger and somewhat 
later than Barletta. The probabilities are that Bar- 
letta and New Queen, in the establishments of many 
seed dealers, come from the same seed bag. 

Bermuda (Red Mammoth Tripoli, Bermuda 
Red) — The bulbs of this variety are large, fine 
grained, and of excellent flavor. The skin is thin and 
rich, and of a blood-red color. The flesh is white. 
It is largely imported into this country. 

Early Pearl (Silver White Aetna, American 
Pearl) — Xn Italian variety which matures very early. 
The round, flattened bulbs are pure white, antl possess 
a mild, pleasant flavor. It is excellent for sets or 



82 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

pickling-, and is highly esteemed by some market 
gardeners. 

Giant Rocca (Rocca of Naples) — This is a very 
large onion that is well adapted to the transplanting 
method of culture in the South. It requires a long 
season to mature the bulbs. Its flavor is mild and 
very pleasant. The bulbs are globular in shape, with 
a light, reddish-brown skin. It is very productive 
when transplanted or wherfe the season is of suffi- 
cient duration. 

. Gkint Red Rocca — This variety differs very 
slightly from the preceding, except that it is darker 
in color. 

Giant White Rocca (Silver Ball) — One of the 
most valuable sorts of the Italian type. The bulbs 
are very large, white, globular, compact, and the flesh 
is white, with a mild, pleasant flavor. An excellent 
variety for either home consumption or market when 
the transplanting method is adopted. 

Giant Yellow Rocca (Spanish King) — Resembles 
the Giant Red in every particular except color, which 
is a bright yellow. This variety may be transplanted 
with very satisfactory results. 

Maninwfh Pompeii — This is one of the largest of 
the foreign varieties, bulbs weighing over four pounds 
having been grown in this country. It does not appear 
to lose in quality when grown to such an enormous 
size. Ft should be grown by the transplanting 
method. The bulbs are red, with thin skins. The 
flavor, as is usual with the foreign sorts, is very 
mild and pleasant. 

Alarcajola (Italian May) — A small, early, flat 
onion. The bulbs are white and of superior quality. 

Neiv Queen (Pearl, Early White Queen) — This 
variety is quite generally known in the South as the 
Pearl onion, but "New Queen" is the preferable name. 



VARIETIES 



83 



It is one of the most valuable sorts for growing 
pickling onions from seed, although the Barletta is 
considered superior by many gardeners. The bulbs 
are pure white a-n-d can scarcely be excelled in flavor. 
Seeds may be sown in February where the season 
is sufficiently early, and mature bulbs will be pro- 
duced by June. If sown in Jul}^ or August another 
crop will be ready to harvest late in fall. The onions 
measure from one to two inches in diameter and 
generally command high prices. See also **Barletta." 







Fig 49 WHITE TRIPOLI ONION 



Red Victoria — A large, handsome globular- 
shaped onion. Skin very dark red ; flesh white or 
very light rose-colored ; mild, pleasant. A heavy, rich 
loam is best adapted to this variety. 

Mammoth White Garganns or Silver King 
(Mammoth Silver King) — A very large, white Italian 
variety. Bulbs are flattened; flesh white, with a mild, 
sweet flavor. 

White Italian Tripoli (El Paso, Large Mexican) 
— The Texas experiment station reports that out of 



84 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

fifty-eight varieties grown in 1895. from seeds sown 
in the open ground this variety gave the largest yield. 
It is very large size, flat in form, with a white skin, 
as shown in Fig 49. 

White Victoria — The White Victoria is consid- 
ered the most valuable of the White Italian onions for 
transplanting. The bulbs are very large, globular 



















'^i-' ■ •■ 






r 






- 


-^^.^,* 
^■'.T^^- 

^ 




4 
> 


1 






r 


j 


ii^flHn 


1 




-.^^ 


^^^ -^^id^ 


^ 



Fig 50 — BEAULIEU'S HARDY WHITE ONION 

and handsome. Wherever tested it is most highly 
esteemed. It produces heavy crops when the proper 
treatment is given. 

Giant Gibraltar — Introduced by W. Atlee 
Burpee & Co of Philadelphia about 1898. It is a 



VARIETIES 85 

larger onion than even Prizetaker, and still milder 
in flavor. Its season of ripening is a week or two 
later. It has a light straw colored skin, white crisp 
flesh, and is perhaps the most satisfactory onion to 
be grown by the new transplanting method, where 
appearance and large yield are first considerations. 
It is particularly subject to fungous diseases, and not to 
be recommended as a keeper. Mr Burpee writes me 
as follows in respect to the origin of this splend'd 
onion : 

"We can give you very little information regard- 
ing the origin of the Gibraltar. All we know is that 
it originated in Spain. There having been on the 
market, when introduced, so many of the varieties 
of the Spanish type of onion seed, such as Yellow 
Spanish, White Spanish, Spanish King, etc, we de- 
cided that the name 'Gibraltar' would prevent its 
being confused with previously introduced or inferior 
varieties. We have many growers in the South that 
are growing the Gibraltar." 

Hardy JVIiifc Onion (Beaulieu's), Fig 50 — I am 
a little in doubt about its true origin, and whether it 
belongs under the American or foreign onions. The 
introducer, Air Henri Beaulieu of Woodhaven, Long 
Island, claims that it is a strain or cross of the White 
Portugal. From a single trial (1901-1902) it seemed 
to me to be of the Barletta or New Que. > type. 
Grown from seed in open ground (sowed in Augi! 
1901), it stood the severe winter without protection 
unharmed and gave an early crop of fine bunching- 
onions. From H. W. Camden, Long Island, I have thf 
following report : "We sow Beaulieu's Hardy White 
onion seed during the month of August. Plants of 
early sowings can be transplanted or remain in the 
seed bed ready for bunching to come in between winter 
onions (scallions) and onions from sets. If left to 



86 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

ripen they will get as big around as a silver dollar. 
We bunch all for New York market. In 1901 we 
sowed two other varieties with them on same day and 
on same ground. All came up well. The Hardy White 
stood the winter well. The others died off. This 
year we have three other sorts side by side with the 
Hardy White. The seed seems to be rather delicate 
of germination. This is the third or fourth year we 
sowed this Hardy White onion. This season we haye 
sowed twenty-five or thirty pounds. They are a good 
flavored, nice bunching onion." 



CHAPTER XI 

Insects and Diseases Affecting the Onion Crop 

The Onion Maggot (Anthoniyia ccparum) — The 
following is taken from the Connecticut experiment 
station reports : 

"The adult insect, a small two-winged fly, de- 
posits its eggs on the lower portion of the young 
onion plants during the months of April and May. 
In about a week the eggs give rise to small, whitish 
grubs or maggots which eat tlieir way into the bulbs, 
upon which they feed for about two weeks. They 
then leave the bulb, enter the ground, and change to 
the pupa condition, from which, in course of time, 
the adult flies emerge. Occasionally the maggots 
remain in the bulb and the brown pupae are found 
in the stored onions. Several broods are produced 
during the summer. The various stages of develop- 
ment of the insects are shown in Fig 51. 

"Various methods of destroying this pest have 
been recommended. Ormerod (in A Text Book of 
Agricultural Entomology) suggests rotation with 
some other crop in order that the flies emerging from 
the pupae which remain in the soil may not find onion 
plants at hand upon which to deposit their eggs; 
earthing the young plants well up above the collar so 
that the flies are prevented from reaching the bulb; 
pulling and destroying the plants first affected, by 
which means the migration of the maggots to sound 
bulbs is checked ; the avoidance as far as possible of 
natural manures, in which the larvae of these insects 
live ; or finally the application of lime to the land." 
E. O. Orpet (in Garden and Forest) recommends the 



88 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

following method, which is well worth a trial : "Half 
a pint of kerosene is well mixed with a pailful of 
some dry material, preferably wood ashes, but sand, 
sawdust, or even dry soil will do fairly well; after 
the plants are well up and the trouble is at hand, a 
sprinkling of this mixture along the rows about twice 
a week during the time the fly does its work will be 
found a sure prevention of the trouble. After the 
end of May there is little danger, as the onions are of 
a good size and not so liable to injury." 




Fig 51— THE ONION MAGGOT (ENLARGED) 

I, affected onion; 2, the maggot at work; 3, the full-grown larva; 4, the 
cocoon ; 5, the adult onion fly 

I invariably plant radishes, and often cauliflowers 
and cabbages, in immediate vicinity of the onion patch, 
or perhaps a few rows here and there right in it. 
The radishes, cauliflowers, etc, appear to act as 
''catch" plants. At least they are usually more 
or less affected by maggots, v/hile the onions are 
seldom attacked. I have reason to believe that strong 
lime water made from freshly burnt lime will kill 
all the maggots with which it comes in contact. To 
apply it, soak the ground around the plants so thor- 



INSECTS AND DISEASES 89 

oiighly that the appHcation will reach the worm 
feeding at the root stalk or bulb. 

When the plants are in a hotbed, maggots can be 
destroyed by inserting bisulphid of carbon into the 
soil. Professor Bailey recommends to puddle the 
plants when transplanting in a puddle to which sulphur 
has been added, and sprinkle sulphur about the plants 
after they are set. Of course all infested plants should 
be pulled up and burned at once. 

The Onion Thrip (Thrips tabaci) — Onion grow- 
ers sometimes find their onions afifected in a manner 
that they are undecided whether to lay the blame on 
insects or disease. When a plant appears as shown 
in Fig 52, most people will say that it has been struck 
by blight. The truth is, however, that the enemy is 
a small insect or midge. The illustration, taken from 
a bulletin of the Ohio station, shows a plant that is 
very seriously affected, and totally crippled, by thrips. 
The effects of the attacks appear as a white blast, 
and may be easily mistaken for a diseased condition. 
We may not have much to fear from this enemy in 
a wet season. It is the dry season which is liable to 
bring us the attacks of thrips. The Florida agricul- 
tural experiment station reports that the insect was 
first noticed there about the middle of April in 1897, 
infesting onions at the station gardens, and that the 
insects were destructive until about July i, when they 
gradually disappeared. I quote as follows from 
Bulletin 46 : 

"In 1898, the insect was observed April 28, to be 
quite abundant on onions in the horticultural depart- 
ment, and some days later. Professor Rolfs called 
my attention to its occurrence on cabbage and cauli- 
flower. To these plants it proved quite destructive 
during May, and the first two weeks of June. By 
the last of June, the insects were becoming very 



90 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

scarce, and by July 15, none were to be found. Begin- 
ning with July, considerable rain had fallen, which 
may have hastened their disappearance. 

*'This species is injurious to the foliage of plants. 
On the onions, it chafes off the epidermis from the 




Fig 52 — PLANT ATTACKED BY THRIPS 

green leaves, thereby causing them to dry out, whiten 
and frequently die. On the cabbage and cauliflower 
their effects are about the same. They are much more 
abundant on the lower surface of the leaves, where 
they chafe off the leaf substance, much as in their 
attack on onions. 

"According to Mr Th. Pergande, assistant ento- 
mologist, United States department of agriculture, the 



INSECTS AND DISEASES QI 

onion thrip occurs in the following- localities: 
Russia, Germany, Bermuda, Connecticut, New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virg-inia, Ohio, Illinois, 
Colorado and California. To these should now be 
added Florida. It is doubtless of European origin, 
and has been brought over in some shipment of onions 
or cabbage. The insect was first made known to 
science by Dr Londeman of Moscow, who found it 
very destructive to tobacco in southern Russia. 

''The egg of this species is almost colorless, elon- 
gate, and curved. The egg state lasts from three and 
a half to four days. Upon hatching, the larvae are 
quite agile, running about readily if disturbed. They 
are almost transparent in color but become gradually 
of a greenish-yellow color, the greenish tint due doubt- 
less to the contained food. These larvae are somewhat 
gregarious in their habits, and may be seen feeding 
together in groups. They use the spines on the end 
of the abdomen to drive away intruders, by striking 
right and left. In almost all cases it has the desired 
effect, and the victim seems glad to get away. The 
larval stage lasts from seven to nine days. The 
nymph stage lasts for four days, the insect remaining 
almost in the same tracks throughout the period, if 
left undisturbed. No food is taken. 

'The third and last molt of the insect is from the 
nymph to the adult condition. A newly developed 
adult is quite light in color, and does not acquire the 
normal color for twelve to fifteen hours. The length 
of life of an adult was not satisfactorily determined. 
Specimens were kept, however, for nearly three days, 
when they met with an accident. From the above it 
will be seen that the total life cycle of the insect in 
Florida is approximately sixteen days. ... In 
Florida there are probably no distinct broods, as all 
stages may be found at the same time. Allowing for 



g2 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

the life cycle at sixteen days, a large number of broods 
could occur during the year, but unfavorable conditions 
keep them reduced except durmg the spring and 
perhaps early summer, so that it will probably not 
happen that they will develop throughout a year, 
according to their capabilities. 

''Several insecticides were tried against this insect. 
They may be successfully controlled by the use of 
whale oil soap (Anchor brand), at the rate of one 
pound of soap to four gallons of water ; or by the 
use of rose leaf insecticide, at the rate of one pint 
to four gallons of water. The use of kerosene emul- 
sion will also be found effective. 

'Tn spraying against the insect, it should be done 
thoroughly ; the soil around the plant should also be 
sprayed as well as the stems of cabbages and cauli- 
flowers, thus destroying the pupae that may be in 
hiding." 

Onion Cutworms — The onion growers of some 
parts of New York state and other onion growing 
districts throughout the northern half of the United 
States, have occasionally suffered severe losses by the 
depredations of one of the cutworms, the dark-sided 
cutworm (Carneades messoria), known also under the 
names onion cutworm, climbing rustic and reaping 
rustic. This climbing cutworm does not confine its 
work to the onion field, but also attacks other garden 
plants, as well as flower buds upon trees and shrubs. 
The worm itself, while young and small, climbs up 
on the plants in search for the tenderest parts, and in 
that stage only takes the tips of the onions. When 
older, the worms become too clumsy to climb and 
content themselves with eating off the plants at the 
surface of the ground. They usually feed at night, 
but may, when food is scarce, march from plant to 
plant by day, as does the army worm, traveling slowly 



INSECTS AND DISEASES 93 

and leaving- behind them only the stubs and roots. 
None of my onion patches have ever suffered from 
the depredations of cutworms. In fact, clean culture 
and an intensive system of gardening which calls for 
continued cropping, following one crop closely with 
another to the very end of the season, have banished 
cutworms, grubs and wireworms almost entirely from 
my fields. 

To Bulletin No 120 of the New York state 
experiment station, Geneva, I am indebted for the 
following life history of the onion cutworm : *'It is 
probable that, on the onion fields at least, the eggs are 
mostly laid in the late fall upon the weeds and other 
debris remaining upon uncultivated spots in the fields, 
along ditch borders and fences, or on adjoining high- 
lands. From these highlands the weeds and eggs are 
borne upon the fields by the high waters of early 
spring and furnish starting points for the spread of 
the young worms. These also advance from the bor- 
ders of the field and from the ditch banks. Some of 
the eggs may hatch in the fall, and the young worms 
feed for a time before going into winter quarters in 
the ground, and some of the moths probably remain 
alive though dormant during the winter and resume 
egg laying in the spring. The small size of the 
worms, however, when they are first seen feeding 
in tlie spring, and their occurrence in such numbers 
on the gray soils which receive so much of the wash 
of the uplands and in scattered spots in the fields 
where the water-borne debris is found, would seem 
to indicate that they reach these places in the egg 
form upon the weeds, hatch early in the spring, and 
spread soon to the onions. They begin to feed early 
in May, and when first noticed (May 12) they were 
from one-tenth to one-half grown, and were from 
one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch in length. They 



94 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

eat ravenously and continue to grow until they finish 
feeding, sometime before the middle of June. They 
are then about an inch and a quarter in length, and 
are marked upon the sides by a decided dark band or 
stripe. They now burrow into the ground a short 
distance and form small cavities in which they change, 
first to dark brown chrysalids, and then into moths. 
The moths may emerge at any time between the 
last of July and October, and they soon begin to lay 
their eggs." 

The following treatment is recommended for 
severe visitations of this enemy. Mix thirty pounds 
of dry bran and middlings in equal parts, with one 
pound of Paris green. "This mixture can be dis- 
tributed by means of an onion seed drill, and thus 
deposited evenly and continuously about the margins 
of the fields before the advancing destroyers. It forms 
a line of defense across which the worms will seldom 
pass without feasting to their death. If the worms 
become scattered over the fields, the dry bait can be 
applied quickly and uniformly alongside the rows by 
use of the drill. 

'This treatment is fully as efficient as hand pick- 
ing, is less expensive, and is, for onions, at least, a 
very satisfactory defense against the cutworms. It 
can also be used successfully and with ease to protect 
cabbages, tomatoes, egg plants, sweet potatoes, straw- 
berries and similar garden plants, by surrounding each, 
at time of transplanting, with a little of the poisoned 
mixture. 

'Tf the onion grower will have ready for the cut- 
worms when they first appear upon the grass about 
his fields a meal of the tempting but deadly, poisoned 
dry bait, and will offer this food to them whenever 
and wherever they appear among the onions, his loss 
from their ravages will be but small." 



INSECTS AND DISEASES 95 

White grubs (larvae of the May beetle) and 
wireworms (larvae of snapping bugs) are sometimes 
found feeding at the onion roots. It may be possible 
to drive away the grubs by applications of caustic 
liquids, such as lime water, saturated solutions of 
kainit, or of muriate of potash ; although I am not 
sure on this point. The wireworm is too tough, 
however, to be affected by such means. The best way 
of fighting these troublesome customers is to plow 
and thoroughly pulverize our fields in autumn, or any 
time after latter part of July. 

The Smut of Onions (Urocystis Apulae Frost) — 
A very serious disease of the onion plant, but from 
which the onions grown on the new plan of growing 
and transplanting seedlings have little to fear, is the 
rust, smut or blight. This disease has recently played 
havoc in several of our great onion districts, especially 
where onions have been grown in succession for a 
number of years. The spores seem to remain in the 
soil, reappearing after a long series of years when 
onions are again grown. Smut attacks the onion at 
the time the seed germinates and then only. Its ap- 
pearance shows itself in black streaks on the stems; 
afterward the stem bursts, and the black powder is 
seen more plainly. The onion never develops, but 
rots. Pull up and destroy the diseased plants, and 
another year plant on new soil. That is about all that 
I could suggest as a preventive or remedy for smut. 

The following excerpt is from the annual report 
of the Connecticut agricultural experiment station : 

General Characters— The presence of smut in 
onions is first indicated by one or several dark spots 
at different bights in the leaves of seedlings, which are 
seen to be more or less opaque when the plant is held 
up to the light. These dark appearances may be seen 
in the first leaf, before the second leaf has begun to 



96 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

develop at all, and are more commonly found just 
below the ''knee" ; though they sometimes occur above 
it. After a time, usually while the second leaf is 
developing, longitudinal cracks begin to appear on one 
side of these spots, which widen and show within a 
dry, fibrous mass, covered with a black, sooty powder 
made up wholly of the ripened fruit or spores of 
the fungus, which are blown or washed out onto the 
ground. In some cases the smut may appear only 
toward the upper end of the first leaf, and become 
cut ofif from the main body of the plant by the with- 
ering of the former. In such a case an onion which 
has shown smut in its first leaf appears, in some 
instances, to recover, showing no signs of smut in 
its subsequent growth ; but as a rule the same dark 
appearance shows itself in the second leaf and those 
subsequently formed, and if the seedling is pulled up 
and examined, the whole plant will be found to be 
pervaded by the disease to a greater or less extent. 
Plants thus diseased, especially if the soil is dry, very 
commonly succumb early, drying while in the second 
or third leaf. The stronger plants, however, espe- 
cially if the ground is moist, are able to resist the smut 
sufficiently to make a considerable growth, and many 
survive even up to the time of harvesting. 

Disfribtition and Severity — The onion smut occurs 
in Massachusetts, Ohio and Pennsylvania, if not in 
several other states ; Connecticut appears to sufifer 
more from this disease than any other locality. 

The severity of the disease in different localities 
is variable. It appears at first in isolated spots here 
and there in a field, and from these spreads in all 
directions until the whole piece becomes affected, and 
the cultivation of onions upon it has to be discon- 
tinued. This period from the first appearance of the 
smut to the enforced discontinuance of the onion crop. 



INSECTS AND DISEASES 97 

appears to be, on new ground, never less than five 
years. 

It appears to be during the germination and 
earliest growth of the onion seed only that the fungus 
threads, developed from the spores, make their en- 
trance into the onion seedling. Onions grown in 
warm, light soils are usually more likely to be smutted 
than if they are grown in heavy, wet land. . . . 
It seems undoubtedly true that the yellow and espe- 
cially the red varieties are less susceptible than the 
white to this, as to most other diseases affecting 
the crop. 

Dissemination — The popular impression that smut 
is disseminated principally in the planted seed is one 
which is quite erroneous. As a matter of fact seed 
onions are not attacked by smut, and the presence of 
smut spores in the seed is not to be considered for a 
moment as a cause of its dissemination. It is very 
probable, however, that smut may in some instances 
be carried on seeds grown in smutted districts, the 
spores adhering to their surface as any small particles 
of dust might do. Any course of procedure in har- 
vesting or in preparing seed which involved the dust- 
ing of even a small amount of smutted earth upon 
it, would render the seed dangerous for this reason. 
Proper care in gathering and handling seed should, 
however, obviate this danger entirely. 

The local dissemination of smut is due to four 
principal causes. First, through agricultural imple- 
ments, plows, harrows, weeders, rakes, etc, which 
spread the soil containing smut spores, both by scatter- 
ing the surface earth over a smutted field and, unless 
they are thoroughly cleaned, by carrying earth con- 
taining smut spores into fields subsequently worked 
upon. Secondly, through the adherence of the same 
smutted earth to the feet of men and farm animals 



98 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

and its consequent transportation from one part of a 
field to another or to different fields ; an agency by no 
means unimportant. Thirdly, the smut spores may 
be readily washed with surface earth from higher to 
lower ground, as is a matter of common observation. 
Fourthly, popular opinion to the contrary, the spores 
being practically imponderable may be readily blown, 
with other dust-like material, either about the same 
field, or into adjoining fields. The reason that this 
mode of dissemination is of less importance than some 
others, lies probably in the fact that the spores being 
formed and making their exit from the onion com- 
paratively near to the ground, are readily washed into 
it by rain, and have little opportunity for blowing 
directly into the air, as is the case with corn smut, 
for example. 

It may be mentioned here that the smut appears 
to be very attractive to the *'flea beetles," which swarm 
over the ruptured parts of diseased seedlings and ap- 
parently feed upon the spores, although they do not 
seem to trouble the healthy onion leaf. That these 
or other insects may serve to spread the smut, in a 
way similar to that observed in some other fungi, is 
not impossible. 

General Precautions — Attention should perhaps 
be called here to a few general precautions which may 
be of service against the Urocystis, the most important 
of which have already been referred to in connection 
with its dissemination by farm implements, etc. Such 
implements should never be used on smutted ground 
and then upon new ground, without thoroughly wash- 
ing off all adhering earth. The same may be said in 
regard to any means by which smutted earth may 
be transported. 

All refuse of whatever kind that is left on the 
field should be burned as soon as practicable, and 



INSECTS AND DISEASES 99 

although onion land is usually kept so clean that it 
cannot be burned over in the fall, this practice will 
be found very advantageous when it is possible. 

At the second and subsequent hand weedings all 
onions which show smut in the second or third leaf 
should be pulled, collected in a basket or other con- 
venient receptacle and burned at once. This practice 
involves very little trouble, and the folly of leaving 
the larger smutted onions to discharge crop after crop 
of spores upon the ground, as the leaves successively 
mature, is apparent; especially when the enormous 
number of spores thus formed is considered. It is 
hardly an overestimate to say that a single large onion 
may mature during a season something like a cubic 
inch of smut, which means between one and two thou- 
sand millions of spores, each capable of producing a 
smutty onion in the following season. 

If an onion grower has unlimited land suitable 
for the crop it is almost superfluous to say that the 
best means of avoiding smut is to take up new land 
as soon as the old shows signs of the disease to any 
considerable extent; but, as has been previously re- 
marked, this is not a remedy for smut, any more than 
it would be a remedy to stop raising onions altogether 
in affected sections. 

Transplanting, as a Preventive of Smut upon 
Onions — Two methods of raising onions have long 
been practiced by Connecticut growers ; one directly 
from seed, the other from small onions of the previous 
year's growth, called "sets." ... It has been 
observed that onions raised from sets remain free from 
the disease even upon fields where onions raised 
from seed always suffer more or less seriously. 
Thaxter first . . . demonstrated that the smut 
fungus enters the onion seedling only while the latter 
is beneath the surface of the ground. . . . The fact 



lOO THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

of the immunity of transplanted seedlings was men- 
tioned by Thaxter in this connection. 

The method of growing onions by starting the 
seed in hotbeds, and transplanting the seedlings to the 
field, was suggested in 1891 by Mr T. Greiner of La 
Salle, New York, and has since been practiced by him 
and by others with marked success. Several of the 
experiment stations also have tried this method. But 
all of these experiments have had for their object 
increase in the size and value of the onion crop. As 
far as that was concerned they were successful in 
proving fliat larger yields are obtained at no greater 
expense, and that the onions are larger and mature 
earlier than onions grown from seed sown in the open. 
But it seemed more than likely that this method would 
have another important advantage in producing a 
sound crop of onions even upon smutty land. 

It seems fair to conclude that by raising seedlings 
in flats, and transplanting to the open ground, a clean 
crop of onions can be grown even upon land thor- 
oughly infested with smut. 

The Onion Mildew (Peronospora Schleideni 
Ung) — This fungus, which is similar in nature to the 
downy mildew of the grape (Peronospora viticola), is 
well known in Europe as producing a serious dis- 
ease of cultivated onions, occuring also on wild 
species. In this country it has been known to produce 
injury among onions in Wisconsin, specimens having 
been collected at Ithaca in that state. In Wethersfield, 
Connecticut, it was observed only upon seed onions. 
. . . In regard to remedies against this mildew, 
preventive rather than curative measures seem to offer 
the best prospects of good results. Knowing that it is 
perpetuated over winter and originates during the 
following season by means of resting spores, which 



INSECTS AND DISEASES lOI 

survive in the dead tissues of the onion leaves and 
stalks, the necessity for destroying all such refuse needs 
hardly to be pointed out. The common practice of 
plowing in stalk and field refuse generally cannot be 
too strongly condemned, and in the present instance 
renders the infection of onions grown on the same 
land another year almost certain. The stalks should 
invariably be burned in a manner to render their 
destruction as complete as possible. The repeated use, 
for the same crop, of land on which the disease has 
appeared, should be avoided; and in localities where 
the disease is known to exist, the use of low sheltered 
land should be avoided for this crop. 

The Onion Macrosporium {Macrosporiiun sarci- 
nnla Berk; variety parasiticuni Thum) — In a majority 
of cases, the mildew just described was followed by a 
black appearance, resulting from the growth of a fun- 
gus wholly different from the Pcronospora, namely, the 
onion Macrosporium {M. sarcinula var parasiticum). 
Although more common and conspicuous among seed 
onions which have suffered from the mildew, this 
fungus appears to be almost universal among onions 
in the state, occurring on market as well as seed onions 
and sets. It is much more conspicuous on the seed 
stalks than elsewhere, forming a deep black, velvety 
coating, which sometimes involves the whole stalk. 
On the leaves it is less conspicuous, often brownish 
or not so evenly black, and when the mildew has not 
preceded it, it is less evenly diffused, occurring here 
and there in patches. 

In regard to remedies in the case of this disease, 
it is not probable that any direct treatment would be 
advisable ; but it should be kept in check by the sys- 
tematic destruction of all stalks and field refuse gener- 
ally, which can only be done effectually by burning. 



I02 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

Plowing in such refuse, or composting it, should 
never be resorted to under any circumstances. 

The Onion Vermicular ia (Vermicularia circinans 
Berk) — The outer bulb scales of the white varieties 
of onions, before they are harvested, are often attacked 
by a black growth, quite inconspicuous at this time, 
and composed usually of a central black dot, or small 
ring, outside of which one or more larger rings are 
arranged concentrically and with greater or less 
regularity. When kept in a moderately moist, warm 
atmosphere, this black appearance extends itself with 
considerable rapidity, either growing in concentric 
circles or successive wavy lines, or forming evenly 
black areas on the bulb. At first this is confined to 
the outer layer of scales; but, as the disease. extends, 
it penetrates several successive layers, inducing decay 
and often presenting an appearance, beneath the outer 
layer, hardly distinguishable, at first sight, from the 
onion smut. If the black rings and blotches are 
examined closely they may be readily seen to be com- 
posed of numerous black points of various size, single 
or running together in clumps, and apparently made 
up for the most part of very minute bristles. 

The economic importance of this disease rests 
upon the fact that, although it does not as a rule 
injure the onions seriously, or become conspicuous 
upon them until after they are housed, it often attacks 
them subsequently to such an extent as greatly to dis- 
figure them, and impair their value for marketing 
purposes. Some idea of the serious nature of the 
disease may be inferred from the fact that one gentle- 
man, whose statement is wholly reliable, estimates 
his actual loss from this cause during the past season 
at several thousand dollars. 

The fungus is introduced into the onion house 
from the field, where it occurs not very abundantly 



INSECTS AND DISEASES IO3 

on the bulbs before they are pulled, especially if they 
have been weakened from any cause, and among the 
housed onions it propagates itself with a severity 
proportional to the favorableness of the conditions 
offered it for the formation, dissemination and ger- 
mination of its spores above described. These con- 
ditions are warmth and moisture, and the proximity 
of uninfected bulbs. It may be communicated by 
contact with diseased bulbs or with any object, such 
as the hands, or tools that have been subjected to such 
contact, and may be also spread by strong drafts 
which blow about the spores or dry scales containing 
them. 

The most important precaution which can be 
taken against the disease consists in housing the 
onions during dry weather after the bulbs are thor- 
oughly dried off. No bins which have contained such 
black onions should be used a second time, until they 
have been thoroughly cleaned and sprinkled with quick- 
lime, or quicklime and sulphur. All danger of heat- 
ing should be avoided, and the onions stored in as 
cool and dry a place as possible, which can be arranged 
to be ventilated in dry weather and shut up when the 
atmosphere is moist. Should the fungus be noticed 
on the bulbs at the time of storing, or in any case 
when there has been previous damage from this cause, 
it is probable that a treatment with dry air-slaked 
lime, such as has been recommended with success for 
potatoes (one bushel of lime to twenty-five bushels 
of onions), applied at the time of storing, would 
prove of great service in checking the spread of the 
fungus. The utility of this practice, however, needs 
confirmation by actual experiment before it can be 
definitely recommended. In any case, such treatment 
should be made at the outset, since it would have 



104 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

comparatively little influence after the disease was 
well established. 

The question has been asked whether bulbs at- 
tacked by the Vcrmicularia can safely be used for seed 
onions, and it may be said that this can be done with 
perfect safety, provided that the fungus has not at- 
tacked them sufficiently to have induced rotting; since 
as a rule the surface layers only are affected, the bulb 
being otherwise sound. No infection of the seed or 
seed stalks is to be feared ; but the old bulb will be 
likely to harbor the fungus during the summer, and 
communicate it to market onions if planted near them. 



CHAPTER XII 



Growing Onions in the Southern States 



REPORT FROM PROF W. F. MASSEY OF NORTH CAROLINA 

It was long the general opinion, and is still the 
Opinion of some, that in the South the onion crop must 
always be treated as a biennial and grown from sets. 
It was thought that the crop could not be produced in 
the warmer climate of the southern states the same 
year from spring sown seeds. 

The reason for these erroneous notions was that 
the southern gardener copied too closely the methods 
laid down in books written for the North. Thus, 
sowing the seed at the time which is proper for the 
northern states resulted in sets rather than onions, 
because the hot weather comes too soon for them and 
causes them to stop growing. But whea we took into 
consideration the hardiness of the plant and the differ- 
ence in climate, and sowed the seed in February instead 
of April, we had as long and cool season for them as 
in the North, and the result was fully as good a crop 
of ripe onions as can be grown anywhere. 

But the development of market gardening in the 
South of late years has brought a demand for an early 
onion which can be bunched when half grown and 
put on the market green. For this purpose, the sets 
are essential. We grow the sets by sowing seed very 
thickly in soil of only moderate fertility early m April. 
We use the Queen onion for this purpose, as it is a 
very early sort and is also quite hardy in the winter. 
The sets are taken up as soon as the tops ripen and 



I06 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

Spread in a dry place with the tops on, as they keep 
better in this way. In September the tops are cleaned 
off and the sets prepared for planting. This can be 
done at any time in the fall up to November, but the 
earlier the better. 

We mark off the land in rows twenty inches 
apart or even less, for all the cultivation needed can 
easily be done with a wheel hoe run by man power. 
Light mellow soil is needed, and it should be high and 
well drained. In the furrows we place about looo 
pounds per acre of a mixture of 900 pounds of acid 
phosphate, 600 pounds of cottonseed meal, and 400 
pounds of muriate of potash to make a top. This 
has a furrow thrown over it from each side, making a 
sharp list. The lists are flattened somewhat and in 
shallow furrows made on them the sets are planted 
deeply so that they will be about on the level soil 
when the earth is drawn from them in February, but 
we set them deep as a winter protection. These sets 
are for the early green onion only. For a ripe crop 
we prepare the land thoroughly and sow the seed in 
the spring about the middle of February and thin 
them when up to about three inches in the row. We 
use the same fertilization as for the fall sets. For 
this crop we have found nothing better than the 
Southport White Globe, as it keeps better than any 
onion we have grown, and we have tested eighteen 
or twenty other varieties. 

The yellow Potato onion is about the earliest ripe 
onion that can be put on the market, and it generally 
pays very well, because the market is at that time 
pretty bare of ripe onions. But the Potato onion must 
be sold as soon as ripe, for it is a poor keeper. It 
makes no seed, but produces offsets from the bulbs, 
which are set in the fall as other sets, a small set 
making a big onion and a larger one two to three of 



ONION GROWING IN THE SOUTH 10^ 

marketable size. There is another onion of the same 
character but white in color, which is used at times 
for early green onions. This one never grows as 
large as the yellow Potato onion, but is one of the 
best keepers, and its white color makes it desirable 
for the bunching in spring. 

Of late years there has been a great deal of talk 
in regard to a new method of growing onions. This 
is to sow the seed under glass in winter or early spring, 
and transplant them later. This method is of no 
advantage in the culture of the ordinary American 
varieties, but works very well with the big yellow 
onion sold under the name of Prizetaker. In the 
South the seed of this onion should be sown in a 
cold frame protected by glass sashes about the middle 
of January. Care must be taken to give plenty of 
air in the frame and to keep the plants from drawing 
up too tender. Gradually expose them to the air, so 
that by the last of February or early March they 
will be ready to set in the open ground. Set them 
just as advised for the sets, and when well established 
draw the earth from them so as to have the onions 
resting on the surface and only the roots in the ground. 
This onion makes the big yellow onion seen at times 
in boxes in the grocery stores, and is the largest onion 
grown and one of the mildest. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bulletins and reports containing references on 
onion growing, published by experiment stations and 
the United States department of agriculture: 

I. GENERAL CULTURE OF THE ONION, INCLUDING FERTILIZATION 
OF THE SOIL 

Department of Washington, Farmers' Bulletin No 39. 

Alabama Station Bulletin No 51. 

Arkansas Station Bulletin No 56. 

Connecticut Storrs Station Report 1896, page 2^7. 

Florida Station Bulletin No 2; No 31. 

Indiana Station Bulletin No 53. 

Kansas Station Bulletin No 70. 

Massachusetts Hatch Station Report 1895, page 299; 1899, 
page 16. 

Minnesota Bulletin No 10; Report 1887-88, page 225. 

New York Station Bulletin No 206; Report 1883, page 
184; 1884, page 201; 1891, page 477. 

North Carolina Bulletin No 83; No 112. 

North Dakota Bulletin No 18. 

Ohio Report 1885, page 126. 

South Dakota Bulletin No 47. 

Tennessee Bulletin Vol XII, No 3. 

Texas Bulletin No 60. 

Virginia Bulletin No 11; No 60. 

II. THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

Arkansas Bulletin No 28; No 56. 

Connecticut Station Report 1895, page 176. 

Idaho Bulletin No 22. 

Louisiana Bulletin No 27, second series. 

Michigan Bulletin No 79. 

North Dakota Bulletin No 12. 

Ohio Bulletin Vol III, No 9, second series. 

Rhode Island Bulletin No 14. 

South Dakota Bulletin No 47. 

Tennessee Bulletin Vol V. No 4; Vol VI, No 4. 

Texas Bulletin No 36; No 60. 

Utah Bulletin No 45. 

West Virginia Bulletin No 39. 

Wyoming Bulletin No 22. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY lOQ 



III. VARIETY TESTS 

Alabama College Bulletin No 20, new series; Bulletin 

° Arizona Station Report 1899. page 252; 1900, page 158. 

Arkansas Bulletin No 28; No 34; No 44- 

Colorado Station Report 1888, pages 118, 121 ; 1889, pages 
40, 98; 1890, pages 50, 192; 1892, pages 51, 58, 66; i«96, 
page 164; Bulletin No 26. 

Florida Bulletin No 31 ; Station Report 1896, pages 24, 
80; 1898, page 36. ^ . 

Georgia Station Report 1899, page 136. 

Idaho Bulletin No 10; No 22. 

Indiana Bulletin No 18. 

Kansas Bulletin No 70. 

Kentucky Bulletin No 38. ^ ^^ , . 

Louisiana Bulletin No 3; No 36; No 52, second series. 

Maryland Bulletin No 5. 

Michigan Bulletin No 120; No 144; No 170. 

Minnesota Bulletin No 10; Station Report 1888, pages 

2 "^6 261 

'Nebraska Bulletin No 6; No 12; No 19- 

New York Station Bulletin No 69; Report 1882, page 
125; 1883. page 183; 1884, page 200: 1885, page 119; 1886, 
pag^ 236; 1887, page 318; 1889, page 330; 1891, page 4d6. 

North Carolina Bulletin No 112. 

North Dakota Bulletin No 18. 

Ohio Bulletin, Vol III, No 9- 

Oklahoma Bulletin No 15. p.„iiptin 

Pennsylvania Station Report 1893, page 126, Bulletin 

"" stuth Dakota Bulletin No 47; No 52; No 59- 

Tennessee Bulletin Vol VI, No 4; Station Report 1899, 
page 64. 

Texas Bulletin No 36. 

Utah Bulletin No 45- ^^ ^ 

Virginia Bulletin No 11; No 60. 

Washington Bulletin No 19. 

West Virginia Bulletin No 22; No 39. 

IV. GERMINATION TESTS OF SEED 

Alabama College Bulletin No 2 (1887). 

Maine Station Report 1888, page 140; 1889, page 15a 

New York Station Report 1882, page 125; 1883, pages 

^°' Ohio^Station Report 1883, pages 170, 176; 1885, pages 
164, 175; 1886, page 254; 1887, page 284. 
Oregon Bulletin No 2. 



IIO THE NEW ONION CULTURE 

Pennsylvania Station Report 1889, page 164. 
South Carolina Station Report 1888, page 85. 
Vermont Station Report 1889, page 107. 

V. DISEASES 

Connecticut Bulletin No iii; No 115; Station Report 
1889, page 158; 1890, page 103; 1895, page 176. 

North Dakota Bulletin No 12. 

New Jersey Station Report 1890, page 354; 1894, page 
351; 1893, page 352; 1897, page 300; 1898, page 319. 

New York Station Bulletin No 164; No 182. 

Ohio Station Bulletin No 127; No 122. 

Oregon Station Bulletin No 27. 

Vermont Station Report 1890, page 141; 1895, page 113; 
1896-97, page 61. 

Wisconsin State Station Report 1883, page 38; 1893, 
page 247. 

VI. INSECTS 

Colorado State Station Bulletin No 24; Station Report 

1894, page 36. 

Connecticut State Station Report 1889, page 180; 1894, 
page 139. 

Florida State Station Bulletin No 46. 

Iowa State Station Bulletin No o.'j. 

Michigan State Station Bulletin No 175. 

Nebraska State Station Report 1898, page 27. 

New Jersey Station Report 1894, page 441 ; 1895, page 447. 

New York State Station Bulletin No 83; No 120; Report 

1895. page 758; 1896, page 522. 

New York Cornell Experiment Station Bulletin No 78; 
Report 1894, page 481. 

Ohio State Station Bulletin No 58. 

United States Department Agriculture, Division of En- 
tomology Bulletin No 26, new series. 

In the book trade are found the following, viz : 

Onion Raising. What kinds to raise and the way to 
raise them. By J. J. H. Gregory. Illustrated. First issued 
in 1865, 

Onions for Profit. By T. Greiner. Illustrated. First 
published in 1893. 

More or less full directions how to grow onions 
are also found in 



BIBLIOGRAPHY III 

How TO Make the Garden Pay. By T. Greiner. Illus- 
trated. Revised edition in 1895. 

The Garden Book. By T. Greiner. Illustrated. Pub- 
lished in 1901. 

and in almost all other modern books on general 
gardening. 



IN CONCLUSION 

I do not despise ''the good old way." There is 
and will continue to be money "in onions," even 
when grown as heretofore, provided the grower 
understands his business, and it does not happen to be 
a year of excessive production. With fairly good soil, 
heavy manuring and skillful management it is not a 
difficult task to grow 600 bushels, and even upward, 
to the acre. Such crop should leave the grower a 
good profit, even at fifty cents a bushel. 

But we have learned to do better — much better — 
than this, by practising the ''new onion culture." This 
is worth the trial for any onion grower situated as 
we are. The average price is much lower than for- 
merly, while our lands have decreased in fertility. 
If there is a way to increase the yield, and the price 
at the same time, we cannot afford to ignore it. 

The good old way . 

Of yesterday, 
May not be best 

For us to-day. 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Advantages and profits 51 

Analysis of onions 7-2 

Barletta onions, Assorted sizes 

of 63 

Bibliography 108 

Bunching or green onions 04 

Conclusion 112 

Crating choice onions 4° 

Curing crib 40 

Shed 39 

The crop 39 

Damping off 10 

Expense of crop per acre 52 

Flat onions 60 

Flats, plants raised in 3 

Forcing pits 7 

Greenhouses, small 8 

Harvesting the crop 38 

When and how 38 

Homemade onion hoe 36 

Hotbeds 

Fire 6 

Level ground 5 

Sunken pits 4 

Importance of good plants 14 

Insects and diseases 87 

Onion cutworms 92 

Macrosporium . . .' 

Maggot 87 

Mildew 

Smut 95 

Thrip 

\'ermicularia 102 

Irrigation 37 

Keeping onions during winter... 49 

Manure 13, 7 

Animal 17 

Barnyard 71 

Chemical 17 

Hen T2 

How to prepare it 13 

Put it on thick 16 

Marker, old style 2,2 

Tracing wheel 24 

Muck land for onions 14 

Nitrogenous commercial fertiliz- 

eis 73 

Old onion culture, The 55 

Onion sieve 62 



PAGE 

Pickling onions, Cleaning 63 

For 61 

Plants, how they are grown x 

How they are set 21 

Potash salts 74 

Quality for seed 61 

Receipts of crop per acre 53 

Red onions 59 

Round onions 59 

Seed bed 1 1 

Growing 68 

Growing in CaUfqrnia 68 

Sewing with a d'-'U 57 

Selling from the field 49 

The crop 44 

Sets, growing onion 64 

Setting the plants 21, 25 

Cost of 21 

Depth of 29 

Distances apart of 21 

Lifting the plants 2.7 

Time for 29 

Trimming the plants 2^ 

With tne dibber 25 

Soil, how to fit 19 

What to select 13 

Soils and manures 70 

Southern states, Onions in the 105 

Storage houses 42 

Strawberries and onions 18 

Tillage as moisture preserver... 32 

As weed killer 33 

Varieties of onions 75 

Adriatic Barletta •• 81 

American 17 

American Pearl 81 

Australian Brown 79 

Barletta 81 

Beaulieu's Hardy White 85 

Bermuda Red 81 

Button 77 

Danvers 77 

Early Pearl 81 

Early Yellow Cracker 79 

Early White Queen 82 

Egyptian 7^^ 

El Paso 83 

Extra Early Red 77 

Foreign varieties 81 



114 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Varieties 

Giant Gibraltar 84 

Golden Seal 79 

Italian May 82 

Large Mexican 83 

Mammoth Pompeii 82 

Marzajola 82 

Multiplier 75 

New Queen 82 

Pearl 82 

Pink Prizetaker 81 

Potato Onion 76 

Prizetaker 80 

Prizewinner 81 

Red Mammoth Tripoli 81 

Red Rocca 82 

Red \'ictoria 83 

Rhode Island Yellow Cracker. 79 

Rocca 82 

Shallots 76 

Silver King 83 

Silver Skin 77 

Silver White Aetna 

Southport White Globe 79 



PAGE 
Varieties 

Top 76 

Tree 76 

Wethersfield 78 

Wethersfield Red 79 

White Garganus 83 

White Globe 79 

White Italian Tripoli 83 

White Portugal -j-j 

White Rocca 82 

White Victoria 84 

Winter 76 

Yellow Dutch 79 

Yellow Globe Danvers j-j 

Yellow Prizetaker 2 

Yellow Rocca 82 

Yellow Strasburg 79 

Zittau 80 

Waste steam in greenhouse heat- 
ing 6 

Weeding 58 

Hand 35 

Wheel hoes 22, 24 

Wintering onions 64 



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our various kinds of soil and subsoil, whether on mountain 
or valley. Illustrated. 250 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. $1.50 

Soils and Crops of the Farm. 

By George E. Morrow, M. A., and Thomas F. Hunt. The 
methods of making available, the plant food in the soil are 
described in popular language. A short history of each of 
the farm crops is accompanied by a discussion of its culture. 
The useful discoveries of science are explained as applied 
in the most approved methods of culture. Illustrated. 310 
pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.00 

Land Draining. 

A handbook for farmers on the principles and piactice of 
draining, by Manly Miles, giving the results of his extended 
experience in laying tile drains. The directions for the laying 
out and the construction of tile drains will enable the farmer 
to avoid the errors of imperfect construction, and the disap- 
pointment that must necessarily follow. This manual for 
practical farmers will also be found convenient for reference 
in regard to many questions that may arise in crop growing, 
aside from the special subjects of drainage of which it treats. 
Illustrated. 200 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . ipi.oo 

Barn Plans and Outbuildings. 

Two hundred and fifty-seven illustrations. A most valu- 
able work, full of ideas, hints, suggestions, plans, etc., for the 
construction of barns and outbuildings, by practical writers. 
Chapters are devoted to the economic erection and use of 
barns, grain barns, horse barns, cattle barns, sheep barns, corn- 
houses, smokehouses, icehouses, pig pens, granaries, etc^ 
There are likewise chapters on birdhouses, doghouses, tool 
sheds, ventilators, roofs and roofing, doors and fastenings, 
workshops, poultry houses, manure sheds, barnyards, root pits, 
etc. 235 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . • $I.CX) 



STANDARD BOOKS. 

Herbcrfs Hints to Horse Keepers. 

By the late Henry William Herbert (Frank Forester). 
This' is one of the best and most popular works on the horse 
prepared in this country. A complete manual for horsemen, 
embracing : How to breed a horse ; how to buy a horse ; how 
to break a horse ; how to use a horse ; how to feed a horse ; 
how to physic a horse (allopathy or homeopathy) ; how to 
groom a horse ; how to drive a horse ; how to ride a horse, 
etc. Beautifully illustrated. 425 pages. 5x7 inches. 
Cloth $1.50 

Diseases of Horses and Cattle. 

By Dr. D. McIntosh, V. S., professor of veterinary 
science in the university of Illinois. Written expressly for the 
farmer, stockman and veterinary student. A new work on 
the treatment of animal diseases, according to the modern 
status of veterinary science, has become a necessity. Such an 
one is this volume of over 400 pages, written by one of the 
most eminent veterinarians of our country. Illustrated. 426 
pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $i75 

The Ice Crop. 

By Theron L. Hiles. How to harvest, ship and use ice. 
A complete, practical treatise for farmers, dairymen, ice 
dealers, produce shippers, meat packers, cold storers, and all 
interested in icehouses, cold storage, and the handling or use 
,of ice in any way. Including many recipes for iced dishes and 
beverages. The book is illustrated by cuts of the tools and 
machinery used in cutting and storing ice, and the different 
forms of icehouses and cold storage buildings. Illustrated. 
122 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. .... $1.00 

TJie Secrets of Health, or Hozv Not to Be Sick, and 
Hozv to Get Well from Sickness. 

By S. H. Platt, A. M., M. D., late member of the Connect- 
icut Eclectic Medical Society, the National Eclectic Medical 
Association, and honorary member of the National Bacterio- 
logical Society of America; our medical editor and author of 
"Talks With Our Doctor'' and "Our Health Adviser." Nearly 
600 pages. An index of 20 pages^ so that any topic may be 
mstantly consulted. A new departure in medical knowledge 
for the people— the latest progress, secrets and practices of all 
schools of healing made available for the common people- 
health without medicine, nature without humbug, common 
sense without folly, science without fraud. 81 illustrations. 
576 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.50 



STANDARD BOOKS. 

Hunter and Trapper, 

By Halsey Thrasher, an old and experienced sportsman. 
The best modes of hunting and trapping are fully explained, 
and foxes, deer, bears, etc., fall into his traps readily by fol- 
lowing his directions. Illustrated. 92 pages. 5x7 inches. 
Cloth $0.50 

Batty's Practical Taxidermy and Home Decoration. 

By Joseph H. Batty, taxidermist for the government 
surveys and many colleges and museums in the United States. 
An entirely new and complete as well as authentic work on 
taxidermy — giving in detail full directions for collecting 
and mounting animals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects, and 
general objects of natural history. 125 illustrations. 204 
pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.00 

Hemp. 

By S. S. BoYCE. A practical treatise on the culture of 
hemp for seed and fiber, with a sketch of the history and 
nature of the hemp plant. The various chapters are devoted 
to the soil and climate adapted to the culture of hemp for 
seed and for fiber, irrigating, harvesting, retting and machin- 
ery for handling hemp. Illustrated. 112 pages. 5x7 inches. 
Cloth $0.50 

Alfalfa. 

By F. D. CoBURN. Its growth, uses and feeding value. 
The fact that alfalfa thrives in almost any soil; that without 
reseeding, it goes on yielding two, three, four and sometimes 
five cuttings annually for five, ten, or perhaps 100 years; and 
that either green or cured it is one of the most nutritious 
forage plants known, makes reliable information upon its pro- 
duction and u?es of unusual interest. Such information is 
given in this volume for every part of America, by the highest 
authority. Illustrated. 164 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. $0.50 

Talks on Manure. 

By Joseph Harris, M. S. A series of familiar and 
practical talks between the author and the deacon, the doctor, 
and other neighbors, on the whole subject of manures and 
fertilizers; including a chapter especially written for it 
by Sir John Bennet Lawes of Rothamsted, England. 366 

pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth $1.50 

3 



STANDARD BOOKS. 

Practical Forestry. 

By Andrew S. Fuller. A treatise on the propagation, 
planting and cultivation, with descriptions and the botanical 
and popular names of all the indigenous trees of the United 
States, and notes on a large number of the most valuable 
exotic species. Illustrated. 300 pages. 5x7 inches. 
Cloth. $1.50 

Irrigation for the Farm, Garden and Orchard, 

By Henry Stewart. This work is offered to those 
American farmers and other cultivators of the soil who, from 
painful experience, can readily appreciate the losses which 
result from the scarcity of water at critical periods. Fully 
illustrated. 276 pages. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . $1.00 

Irrigation Farming. 

By Lute Wilcox. A handbook for the practical applica- 
tion of water in the production of crops. A complete treatise 
on water supply, canal construction, reservoirs and ponds, 
pipes for irrigation purposes, flumes and their structure, 
methods of applying water, irrigation of field crops, the 
garden, the orchard and vineyard, windmills and pumps, 
appliances and contrivances. New edition, revised, enlarged 
and rewritten. Prc/'usely illustrated. Over 500 pages. 5x7 
inches. Cloth. $2.00 

Ginseng, Its Cultivation, Harvesting, Marketing and 
Market Value, 

By Maurice G. Kains, with a short account of its history 
and botany. It discusses in a practical way how to begin with 
either seed or roots, soil, climate and location, preparation, 
planting and maintenance of the beds, artificial propagation, 
manures, enemies, selection for market arki for improvement, 
preparation for sale, and the profits that may be expected. 
This booklet is concisely written, well and profusely illus- 
trated, and should be in the hands of all who expect to grow 
this drug to supply the export trade, and to add a new and 
profitable industry to their farms and gardens, without inter- 
fering with the regular work. New edition. Revised and en- 
larged. Illustrated. 5x7 inches. Cloth. . . . $0.50 

Truck Farming at the South, 

By A. Oemler. a work giving the experience of a suc- 
cessful grower of vegetables or "garden truck" for northern 
markets. Essential to_ anyone who contemplates entering this 
profitable field of agriculture. Illustrated. 274 pages. 5x7 
inches. Cloth. , . . , , , . $1.00 

4 



AP8 15 1903 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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